The European Investment Bank (EIB) said on Thursday it will provide a 28.9 million euro ($32.7 million) investment loan to North Macedonia for the construction of its 68-kilometre-long section of the cross-border natural gas interconnector with Greece.
The loan complements a 12.4 million euro grant by the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) for technical assistance and project implementation, the EIB said in a press release.
North Macedonia's section of the gas interconnector will start at the border with Greece and end near the town of Negotino. Its construction is planned to start at the beginning of 2022, the country's economy minister Kreshnik Bekteshi said on Monday.
The government in Skopje will contribute some 54 million euro of the total investment worth 100 million euro for the construction of the gas link, it said earlier.
The governments of North Macedonia and Greece signed an agreement for the construction of the natural gas interconnector in July.
The 123-kilometre pipeline will extend from Greece's Nea Mesimvria to North Macedonia's Negotino via the Evzoni/Gevgelija border checkpoint, connecting the national natural gas transmission systems of the two countries, Greek gas transmission system operator DESFA said earlier. Its initial annual capacity will be 1.5 billion cubic metres, with an option to double it.
The interconnector will help North Macedonia ensure security of gas supply and liquidity on the gas market, as well as to provide access to natural gas through the Southern Gas Corridor.
The Southern Gas Corridor comprises the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) and the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP). Connecting with the TANAP at Greece's border with Turkey, TAP stretches across northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before reaching southern Italy's coast where it connects to the Italian natural gas network.
(SeeNews, December 23, 2021)
