SKOPJE (North Macedonia), December 23 (SeeNews) – The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced on Thursday that it will provide an investment loan of 28.9 million euros ($ 32.7 million) to North Macedonia for the construction of its 68 km long section of the cross-border natural gas interconnection with Greece.

The loan complements a € 12.4 million grant from the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) for technical assistance and project implementation, the EIB said in a press release.

The North Macedonian gas interconnection section will start at the border with Greece and end near the town of Negotino. Its construction is expected to start in early 2022, the country’s Minister of Economy Kreshnik Bekteshi announced on Monday.

The Skopje government will contribute 54 million euros to a total investment of 100 million euros for the construction of the gas link, he said earlier.

The governments of North Macedonia and Greece signed an agreement to build the natural gas interconnector in July.

The 123-kilometer pipeline will run from Nea Mesimvria in Greece to Negotino in North Macedonia via the Evzoni / Gevgelija border checkpoint, connecting the national natural gas transport systems of the two countries, the manager said earlier. of the DESFA Greek gas transmission network. Its initial annual capacity will be 1.5 billion cubic meters, with the possibility of doubling it.

The interconnection will help North Macedonia to ensure security of gas supply and liquidity in the gas market, as well as to provide access to natural gas through the southern gas corridor.

The Southern Gas Corridor includes the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) and the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP). In connection with TANAP at Greece’s border with Turkey, TAP stretches across northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before reaching the southern coast of Italy where it connects to the Italian natural gas network.

($ = 0.8835 euro)