The intersystem gas connection Greece-Bulgaria is set to open on October 1. President Rumen Radev will host the ceremony for the official commissioning, and many European leaders will take part in this ceremony. The ceremony is expected to begin at 11:00 am. The head of the state’s press office made the announcement in hall 3 of the National Palace of Culture (NDK).
The gas interconnection between Greece and Bulgaria is crucial from a strategic perspective for South-Eastern Europe. It offers the region’s natural gas suppliers a chance to diversify their energy sources. The interconnector will provide Bulgaria with direct access to the Southern Gas Corridor and natural gas supplies from the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP), the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP), and soon also from the liquefied gas terminal in Alexandroupolis.
Following the invitation sent by President Radev, Ursula von der Leyen- the President of the European Commission, Ilham Aliyev- President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Stevo Pendarovski- President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Aleksandar Vucic- President of the Republic of Serbia, Kyriakos Mitsotakis- Prime Minister of the Republic of Greece, Nicolae Ciuca- Prime Minister of Romania, Galab Donev- Caretaker Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Teodora Georgieva and George Satlas- executive directors of “ICGB” JSC will take part in this ceremony.
The average capacity of this pipeline is 3 to 5 billion m3’/ per year with a reverse flow ability. The connecting points are located at Komoniti in Greece and Stara Zogara in Bulgaria. The entire length of this pipeline is 180 kilometres, 150 kilometres in Bulgaria and 30 in Greece, and it costs more than 250 million euros to develop. The initiative is in line with the standard EU plan for market-based supply security, which calls for establishing a Southern Gas Corridor and especially calls for the bidirectional integration of national grids.