Sofia, February 18 (BTA) - Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko
Borissov on Thursday expected the progress of construction of
the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria. "This is a geostrategic
project for both Bulgaria and the entire region," the PM said,
quoted by the Government Information Service. He admitted that
the pandemic had slowed it down a bit but, "as agreed with our
Greek partners, it must be put into commercial operation this
year".

Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova said that the pipe
manufacture and delivery contract has been performed. So far,
187 km of pipes have been delivered in both countries, the
topsoil has been stripped off on over 170 km of the pipeline
route in Bulgaria, more than 128 km of the pipes delivered are
on site, and over 101 km have been welded. Work continues on
digging the trench, laying the pipes and backfilling.

The gas pipeline is 182 km long, of which 151 km in Bulgaria and
 31 km in Greece, with a design capacity of up to 3 billion cu
m/year, which may be increased to 5 billion cu m/year if there
is market demand. It runs from Komotini (Northeastern Greece)
via Kurdjali, Haskovo and Dimitrovgrad to Stara Zagora
(Southeastern Bulgaria).

National Assembly Chair Tsveta Karayancheva and Economy Minister
 Lachezar Borisov were also present at the inspection. NV/LG