A contractor is expected to be selected in early December for the construction of a gas pipeline interconnection with Romania under the Danube river bed, Bulgaria’s Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said on Friday.

Bulgaria’s gas pipeline operator Bulgartransgaz invited bids for the construction of a gas interconnector with Romania including a section under the Danube on September 16. The deadline for submitting bids will expire on October 16.

A contractor is expected to be selected in early December 2015 if the submitted offers meet the requirements of the public procurement tender and no appeals are filed against the ranking of the bids and the naming of the successful candidate, Petkova told parliament.

The project for the construction of a gas interconnection between Bulgaria and Romania is being implemented jointly by the gas transmission operators of the two neighbouring countries  - Bulgartransgaz and Transgaz.

The two companies have been granted up to EUR 8.9 M for project financing under the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR).