European Commission: Launch of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria

Today, the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) was inaugurated at the opening ceremony in Sofia, Bulgaria. This event marks the end of the IGB construction, a key route to carry gas from the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline and Greece to Bulgaria and neighbouring countries. It is a crucial project for the diversification of gas supply in the South-East European region, a project of common interest and a priority project under the Central and South Eastern Europe Energy Connectivity High-Level Group.

The project, supported by the Trans-European Networks for Energy, has an initial capacity of 3 billion cubic meters/year (in the South-North direction). The IGB has received €45 million from the European Energy Programme for Recovery and €39 million from structural funds under the Operational Program “Innovations and competitiveness”.

The Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, said at the opening ceremony:

The IGB can provide much-needed alternatives and flexibility for Bulgaria and the whole region. This new route will help to strengthen security of supply to the region, including the Western Balkans, Ukraine, and Moldova. I would like to congratulate the Greek and Bulgarian governments and the project company ICGB for opening the pipeline today. It is a remarkable milestone of regional cooperation.