With the signing of this contract, the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) project officially starts. The activities on design and EIA will start in the end of August and will end in 2012. The pipeline is 170 km long, with a 3 bcm capacity, which could be increased to 5 bcm per year. It will connect Komotini in Greece with Stara Zagora in Bulgaria and is expected to be operational in 2014.
IGB is a strategic project for both SEE countries and the region. It will improve the security and diversification of supplies for Southeast Europe. Through the connection with the gas corridor Turkey-Greece-Italy (ITGI) it could also provide connection to Caspian, Central Asian, and LNG gas. The project IGB has a 45 million EUR cofinancing by the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR).
The ICGB AD company was founded in Sofia on January 2011 and its shareholders are BEH and IGI Poseidon SA with 50% stake each. In the latter, the Greek DEPA and the Edison have equal shares.