Construction of Dobrich-Silistra gas pipeline to be completed by end-2013

The construction of the pipeline will start shortly, Kiril Temelkov said, providing no further details.

Bulgartransgaz was granted a permit for the construction of the gas pipeline earlier this month.

The construction of the 80-kilometre high-pressure gas pipeline will be financed with a grant from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development under the Kozloduy International Decommissioning and Support Fund (KIDSF).

The project is estimated to cost 12 million euro ($15.9 million), Temelkov said earlier this year, as quoted by the state-run Bulgarian News Agency.

Bulgartransgaz operates a pipeline network with a total length of 2,750 kilometres and the country’s Chiren underground gas storage, which has a capacity of 550 million cubic metres of gas. The company expects to post a profit of 115 million levs ($77.9 million/58.8 million euro) in 2012, Temelkov said. It reported a net profit of 119.7 million levs in 2011, according to its report published in the commercial register.

($=0.7552 euro)