A tender offering a contract for the construction of a gas pipeline linking the Greek and North Macedonian systems has attracted considerable interest, including companies from abroad and the neighboring country, energypress sources have informed. Interested parties had until yesterday to submit offers.

Officials expect work on the gas pipeline’s development to begin this coming spring, while the project’s delivery is anticipated within 2025.

The gas pipeline is planned to cover a total distance of 125 kilometers. Its Greek segment will stretch 57 kilometers, beginning from Nea Mesimvria in the country’s north, while the North Macedonian segment’s 68 kilometers will reach Negotino.

The pipeline’s initial capacity will be 1.5 billion cubic meters, annually. It will be built according to technical specifications enabling transportation of renewable gas, entirely.

Greek gas grid operator DESFA and its North Macedonian equivalent, Nomagas, signed an agreement for the project in September, 2023 as a follow-up to a bilateral agreement reached between the Greek and North Macedonian governments in March, 2021.

The European Investment Bank plans to extend funds worth 2.48 billion euros for the Greek-North Macedonian gas pipeline through the EU’s Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF).