Bulgaria and Serbia to sign memorandum on gas interconnector pipeline project
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov and his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dačić are to sign a memorandum of understanding on December 14 2012 on a gas interconnector project between the two countries.
The signing is to take place at European Commission headquarters in Brussels, with European Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger in attendance.
The European Commission hailed the move as strategic because it would contribute to the security of gas supply for both countries.
Bulgaria and Serbia were both badly affected by the 2009 gas cutoff that resulted from a dispute between Russia and Ukraine.
The pipeline will be about 180km long and will have an annual capacity of about 1.8 billion cubic metres. It is expected to cost about 100 to 120 million euro. Financing will come from the EU.
Construction is expected to begin in July 2014 and the pipeline is scheduled to come onstream by the end of 2015.
(Photo: Jayesh Nair)
