Bulgarians seek consultant for construction of gas pipeline running to Serbian border

The Bulgarian Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism published Tuesday (July 12, 2011) a public call for bids from consultants interested in conducting a preliminary project research of the inter-system gas connections between Bulgaria and Serbia.

The appointed consultant will have an obligation to design the route of the future 60-kilometer gas pipeline on the territory of Bulgaria, as well as to suggest technological variants and the rate of construction.

Another obligation of the selected consultant will be to do a research and decide if the analysis of environmental impact of the future gas pipeline is necessary, reads the statement issued by the Bulgarian ministry.

The ministry has earmarked EUR 2 million for this service, and the future consultant is to finish the job within 12 months if the environmental impact analysis is required, that is, within nine months if that analysis is not necessary.

Bids will be received at the headquarters of the ministry in Sofia prior to August 29th and will be opened one day later.

The capacity of the future gas pipeline will amount to 1.8 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

An agreement on funding the construction of a gas connection between Bulgaria and Serbia was signed in April 2011. Construction of the gas pipeline through Bulgaria will cost EUR 60 million, and the funds are provided from the operational programme Regional Development.

The project implementation is expected to start in late 2013 or early 2014 and to be finished in one year.