August 8 (SeeNews) - ICGB, the company developing the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria project, said it has ranked first a 1.9 million levs ($1.1 million/1 million euro) offer from National Archaeological Institute, part of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, for a contract for studies of archeological sites found along the route of the gas link.
The offer is significantly below the initial estimated value of the tender of 3 million levs, according to documents published by ICGB last week.
Subject of the archeological studies will be the linear part of the Bulgaria-Greece pipeline together with its servitude, the sites for the block valves, the above-ground installations and the infrastructure.
The gas pipeline, which is estimated to cost 220 million euro, will be connected to the Greek gas transmission system in the area of Komotini and with the Bulgarian gas transmission system in the area of Stara Zagora.
The project is being implemented by the joint venture company ICGB, in which state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and Greece-registered IGI Poseidon hold equal shares. Greek public gas corporation DEPA and Italian energy group Edison own 50% each of IGI Poseidon.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)