Bulgaria’s natural gas transmission system operator Bulgartransgaz concluded a contract for a state-guaranteed loan with the Dutch ING Bank through its Sofia branch, for the financing of the interconnector Bulgaria-Serbia (IBS).
The necessary financial resource for the IBS implementation is planned to be provided through grant funding from the Operational Programme “Innovation and Competitiveness” 2014-2020, the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), long-term loan financing secured by a state guarantee and equity capital of Bulgartransgaz.
The proposed loan with state guarantee for the project amounts to more than 49 million euros.
According to the Executive Director of Bulgartransgaz, Vladimir Malinov, the implementation of the interconnector Bulgaria-Serbia will contribute to increasing the reliability of natural gas supply in the region.
“The Interconnection will increase market integration, enhance competitive conditions on the gas market and trade development at the regional level and in the common energy market of the European Union,” he added.
On Bulgarian territory, the interconnector includes the construction of a new gas pipeline from an existing Bulgartransgaz facility near the town of Novi Iskar to the border with the Republic of Serbia. For full project implementation, construction is envisaged of two automatic gas regulation stations and one gas measuring station, as well as two gas pipeline branches to the towns of Slivnitsa and Dragoman. Following its completion, the capacity of the new gas infrastructure will be 1.8 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year with the possibility for reverse flow.