"By construction of the interconnector Bulgaria-Serbia, our country gets access to the liquefied natural gas terminals in Croatia, as well as to the largest liquid market and gas storage in Central Europe - Baumgarten in Austria." This was said by Bulgartransgaz EAD Executive Director, Vladimir Malinovduring inspection of the gas interconnection facilities in Kalotina region. The event was attended by the Prime Minister Acad. Nikolai Denkov, the Minister of Energy Rumen Radevand the Chairman of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission Ivan Ivanov.
"In addition to contributing to the security and diversification of gas supplies, by means of the interconnector the industrial consumption of natural gas develops as well," Malinov noted. He recalled that within the project, gas distribution stations were built to the towns of Slivnitsa and Dragoman. In his words, the project is cost-effective and will bring the necessary benefits to Bulgartransgaz EAD. "Even now there is booked capacity and as of January 1st, over 40% of the capacity has already been booked," he announced.
In her address, Ms. Paloma Aba-Garrote, Director of the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) expressed her gratitude to Bulgartransgaz, the Bulgarian and Serbian authorities for the project implementation. In her words, the interconnector is not only important for the countries, but also contributes to the establishment of a well-functioning, efficient and interconnected regional gas market in the EU.
The Interconnection Bulgaria-Serbia (IBS) is a key project to improve energy connectivity in the region. The total length of the interconnector connecting the gas transmission networks of Bulgartransgaz and Serbia is 170 km with a route from Novi Iskar in Bulgaria to Nis in Serbia. The implementation of the interconnector on Bulgarian territory is co-funded by EUR 27.6 million grant under the Connecting Europe Facility and BGN 5.5 million grant under the Operational Programme "Innovations and Competitiveness 2014-2020".
IBS is in synergy with the gas infrastructure development projects in the region - liquefied gas terminals, including the terminal in Alexandroupolis, the expansion of the underground gas storage Chiren and the construction of new and expansion of existing gas pipelines.
