Bulgaria, Greece sign deal to start building gas pipeline
SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria and Greece on Thursday signed a final investment decision to build a natural gas pipeline to help Sofia reduce its almost complete reliance on Russian gas supplies.
The 180-km (110-mile) pipeline is to be built by a Bulgarian-Greek joint venture that also includes Italian energy group Edison SpA .
After years of delays, construction of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) with an initial annual capacity of 3 billion cubic metres per year is expected to start in October 2016.
The pipeline aims to tap gas from Azerbaijan, and will also be able to carry gas from Greece's liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal after 2018, when it is expected to become operational.
(Reporting by Angel Krasimirov; editing by Jason Neely)
