Commission to invest in Greece-Bulgaria gas pipeline
The European Commission is planning to invest 33 million euros in the construction of a 182-kilometer gas interconnection pipeline between Komotini in northern Greece and Stara Zagora in Bulgaria as part of a 4-billion-euro package for 25 investment projects across 10 member states, it said in an announcement on Tuesday.
The pipeline is a common interest project, contributing to the block’s energy union objectives, European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu said.
It will also link Greece and Bulgaria’s gas systems for the first time.
Apart from the two countries, the investment package also includes projects in the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Poland, Portugal and Romania, covering a wide range of areas, from health, transport and research, to environment and energy.
“These 25 projects are examples of how the EU is working to improve everyday life for our citizens from better drinking water to faster rail transport and modern hospitals. In the current budget period, I have adopted 258 large infrastructure projects worth 32 billion euros of EU funds; they are, in a way, the ambassadors of Cohesion Policy and I’m proud of each and every one of them,” said Cretu.