The Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova announced the start of the public meeting for opening of the requests, manufacturers from several continents are interested in the procedure

March 16th 2018, Sofia – Today in the office of the project company ICGB AD was held a public meeting for opening of the requests for participation in the restricted procedure for line pipes manufacture and supply for the needs of gas interconnector Greece-Bulgaria. In the presence of media representatives, the Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova announced the start of the session for opening of all submitted before the deadline requests. Ten requests for participation have been submitted to the procurement procedure, with interest from both Bulgarian and other European countries as well as from other continents.

The submitted requests are from the following candidates:

1. Jindal SAW Ltd.

2. JSC "Zagorsk Pipe Plant"

3. Welspun Corp. Limited

4. Salzgitter Mannesmann International GmbH

5. Ноксел Челик Бору Санайи А.Ш

6. Umran Celik Boru Sanayii A.S

7. Erciyas Celik Boru Sanayi A.S (Erciyas Steel Pipe Co)

8. Топливо -2 ЕООД

9. Corinth Pipeworks Pipe Industry SA

10. Public Joint Stock Company "Chelyabinsk Pipe Plant"

"The high interest in the tender is a proof that we have managed to guarantee public, transparent and competitive conditions for participation", Minister Petkova pointed out.

Today's procedure is a restricted one, meaning that it will take place in two stages - a pre-selection phase and a phase of examining, evaluating and ranking offers. The project company has chosen this type of procedure as it provides sufficient time for all stakeholders to participate. Under the current procedural order, in the first phase all applicants willingto participate submit only documents of compliance with the selection criteria. Offers shall be submitted only by participants who have passed the pre-selection phase. This saves the candidates’ resources for preparing the offer and significantly reduces the administrative burden.

For the second stage of the procedure, invitations will be sent only to the candidates who have passed the pre-selection. ICGB will invite only five candidates for the second phase of the selection. As of now, the planned date for sending the invitations is April 20, 2018. "Participants in the second phase will be given enough time to prepare their offers," assured the ICGB Executive Officer for Bulgaria Teodora Georgieva. According to her, in the event of smooth development of the procedure, the selection of line pipes supplier is expected to be finalized by the end of June.

According to the contractual strategy adopted by ICGB, the supply of line pipes is assigned separately from the main procurement contract for the engineering, procurement, construction and supply of equipment. The main procurement for the award of the construction, which will also be a limited two-phase procedure, is expected to be announced in the beginning of April. By the end of the first half of the year, tenders for the assigning of archaeological research and construction supervision will also be announced.

“We can assure all participants that ICGB’s actions for selection of contractors will be fully transparent and all applicants will receive timely and complete information, including assistance when needed”, outlined ICGB’s Executive Officer for Bulgaria.

For more information:

Vladislava Tsekova

ICGB AD

Tel.: +359 2 926 38 62

Mobile: + 359 88 653 99 09

Date 16/03/2018