January 15 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's competition authority said on Friday that it granted approval to state-owned gas transmission system operator Bulgartransgaz to acquire a 20% stake in Gastrade - the company developing a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal off Greece's northern coastal city of Alexandroupolis.
The regulator allowed Bulgartransgaz to exercise joint control of Gastrade together with Greece's DEPA Commercial, GasLog Cyprus Investments and private individual Asimina-Eleni Kopelouzou, the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) said in its decision.
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Under the terms of the transaction, Bulgartransgaz is acquiring the 20% stake from Asimina-Eleni Kopelouzou who currently owns 60% of Gastrade.
Given the fact that Bulgartransgaz and the other participants in the transaction, including Gastrade, operate on different geographic markets, the result of the concentration can not be expected to change the market position of the companies and therefore it will not lead to changes in the structure of any of the respective markets in Bulgaria, the CPC said.
The LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis, which is expected to become operational in early 2023, is planned to comprise an LNG floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), which will be a new, independent energy gateway for the markets of Southeastern and Central Europe. The station will have an LNG storage capacity of 170,000 cubic meters and a natural gas supply capacity that will exceed 5.5 billion cubic meters per year. The floating unit will be connected to Greece's national natural gas system via a 28 km long pipeline, through which the regasified LNG will be transmitted to the markets of Greece, Bulgaria and the wider region, from Romania, Serbia and North Macedonia to Hungary, Moldova and Ukraine.
Interested parties can challenge the CPC's decision before Sofia Region Administrative Court by January 29.
In August, Bulgartransgaz signed an agreement to acquire 20% interest in Gastrade. In January 2020, Bulgaria's government said that Bulgartransgaz will acquire the shareholding interest by financing 20% of the cost of construction of the LNG terminal.
"The investment that Bulgartransgaz made today in the LNG project is of strategic importance for the development of the natural gas market in Bulgaria and the region. This will guarantee liquidity of the gas market and competitive prices for the customers. The LNG terminal in Alexandroupis complements the realisation of the concept of the Bulgarian government - Balkan Gas Hub," Vladimir Malinov, CEO of Bulgartransgaz, said at the time.