The two Executive Directors of the project company ICGB Teodora Georgieva and Konstantinos Karayannakos paid a site visit today to the Greece-Bulgaria #interconnector and met with the representatives of the #EPC contractor. During the meeting, the Greek company assured ICGB’s management that all major construction activities are progressing on track and the linear #infrastructure is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.

Thanks to the efforts of all crews, by mid-June more than 160 km of the pipes are welded and tested, and the fully completed #pipeline sections exceed 100 km. Furthermore, the prep works for the gas pipeline HDD crossing under Maritza River are now finished and the teams on site are ready to start the actual drilling in line with the allowed constriction windows set by the MoEW.

In parallel, the third independent site #audit by RSK Group is currently taking place as part of the control mechanism under the #EIB funding, ensuring full compliance with the highest environmental and social standards.

"It is of utmost importance for all of us that the interconnector is completed within the agreed timeline and we highlighted it during the meeting with the management of the EPC contractor. The #IGB pipeline is vital for the security of supplies and the #diversification of natural gas sources not only for Bulgaria and Greece, but also for the entire region, and therefore we will not compromise with the agreed deadlines", said Georgieva and Karayannakos.