SOFIA (Bulgaria), January 18 (SeeNews) – The energy ministers of Bulgaria and Serbia will sign on Thursday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the construction of a gas interconnector between the two countries, the energy ministry in Sofia said on Wednesday.
The two countries intend to begin the construction of the gas interconnector by May 2019 so it could be operational by the end of 2020, the Bulgarian energy ministry said in a statement.
Last week, Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov announced an agreement had been reached to provide EU financing for the gas link.
The estimated cost of the Bulgarian section of the gas interconnection with Serbia is 92.6 million levs ($50.6 million/47.3 million euro). The Bulgarian section of the gas link will be 61.6 km long. The total length of the pipeline will be 150 km.
In December 2015, Bulgaria completed the first stage of the project, which includes the drafting of a technical plan and a detailed zoning plan.
Both Serbia and Bulgaria are heavily dependent on Russian gas supplies. Bulgaria imports almost all the gas it needs to cover its domestic needs via a single pipeline from Ukraine through Romania. Serbia too has just one gas supply route - from Ukraine via Hungary.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)