Bulgaria to "Speed Up" Interconnector Constructions

Bulgarian Minister Energy Delyan Dobrev has said that Bulgaria will speed up its construction of interconnectors to Greece and Turkey, with the pipelines to be ready by the end of 2013.

Minister Dobrev was speaking in response to a plan released by transmission company Bulgartransgaz yesterday, which will see the company invest €650 million into gas pipelines over the next 10 years. The company had said that it expected the interconnectors to be delayed to 2014 but Minister Dobrev said that the country would aim to have the connections completed before then.

"Bulgartransgaz presented only a plan," Reuters news agency reports the Minister as saying yesterday. "We are however working to speed up the interconnector links and have them operational by the end of 2013."

At the release of the Bulgartransgaz investment plan, CEO of Bulgartransgaz Kiril Temelkov said that the plan would see Bulgaria diversify its supply routes for gas into the country.

"The large-scale investment is aimed at ensuring reliable and secure infrastructure for gas flows into and through Bulgaria and diversification of the sources and routes of gas supply," he said.

The investment plan includes several interconnectors designed to achieve this end, including interconnectors with Turkey, Greece, Serbia and Romania. Work has already begun on an interconnector with Romania with work expected to be completed on the Bulgaria-Serbia interconnector in 2015.