State-owned gas transmission system operator Bulgartransgaz said that it has received ten offers for loans totalling 542 million euro ($613 million) as part of a procedure to borrow six-year loans in the total amount of 400 million euro.Bulgartransgaz received offers from ING Bank, Citibank Europe, Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria, Unicredit Bulbank, United Bulgarian Bank, the International Bank for Economic Co-operation, Eurobank Bulgaria, DSK Bank, VTB Bank Europe, and a consortium comprising the Bulgarian Development Bank, International Investment Bank and Municipal Bank, the gas transmission system operator said in a statement on Wednesday.
The offered interest rates vary for each of the six years of the credit, as the lowest is 1.35% and the highest is 3.50%.
The company intends to use the funds to finance key projects such as the construction of the Bulgarian section of TurkStream pipeline, the interconnection Bulgaria-Serbia, and the expansion of capacity of Chiren underground gas storage facility.
Last year, Bulgartransgaz signed a 1.1 billion euro contract with a consortium of Saudi-based Arkad Engineering and Construction Company and its Italy-based joint venture company Arkad ABB of the Bulgarian section of TurkStream transit gas pipeline that will carry gas from the border with Turkey to the border with Serbia.
The offshore section of Gazprom's TurkStream pipeline stretching 930 km across the Black Sea from Russia to Turkey consists of two parallel strings with an annual throughput capacity of 15.75 billion cubic metres each. One string is intended for consumers in Turkey, while the second will carry gas to customers in Europe through Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary.
Earlier this year, Bulgartransgaz agreed to acquire 20% interest in Gastrade - the company developing the floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal off Greece's northern coastal city of Alexandroupolis. Bulgartransgaz will acquire the shareholding interest by financing 20% of the cost of construction of the LNG terminal.
In May, Bulgartransgaz said that its net profit more than doubled to 104.7 million levs in 2019 from 47.1 million levs in 2018, as expenses dropped to 253.7 million levs last year from 329.3 million levs in 2018.
($ = 0.8837 euro)
(SeeNews, July 9, 2020)
