SKOPJE (Macedonia), December 28 (SeeNews) – Macedonian Transport Ministry said it has called a tender for selecting the company that will prepare the technical documentation for the construction of four gas pipeline sections in the county.
The construction of the four sections is estimated to cost a combined 123 million euro ($176.9 million).
The technical documentation will refer to the construction of following gas sections: Klecovce (near the northeastern city of Kumanovo) – Negotino (central Macedonia); Negotino - Bitola (southwestern Macedonia); Stip (eastern Macedonia) - Hamzali (near the southeastern city of Strumica); and Hamzali - Stojakovo (near the southern city of Gevgelija), the ministry said in a statement posted on its website on Friday.
The deadline for submitting offers expires on February 10. The preparation of technical documentation, which should be finished within one year, will be followed by a tender for the construction of the four gas pipeline sections, part of the national gas network.
Earlier this year, Macedonia's Transport Ministry picked an international consortium, comprising of Macedonian companies Prostor and Energo Sistem, Bulgaria's Gastek BG and Slovenia's Petrol, to draft a feasibility study for the construction of a national gas pipeline network.
Currently Macedonia covers its gas consumption solely through imports from Russia via Bulgaria. The pipeline from the border with Bulgaria to Skopje, built in the early 1990s, can carry 1.4 billion cubic metres of gas a year. It has branches to five towns across Macedonia.
($=0.6952 euro)