Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline consortium works to cut costs
MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) - The participants in the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline construction plan to consider ways to reduce project costs at a combined meeting of shareholders and the supervisory board in Rome on February 17, Transneft spokesman Igor Demin told Interfax.
The Bulgarian side owes 7.3 million euro to the project company, Trans-Balkan Pipeline BV (TBP), and the Greek shareholders owe 1.269 million euro. The measures to be implemented include paring staff at the project company to the absolute minimum, slashing administrative and organizational spending, to include ending leases on office space, and reworking contracts to eliminate all periodic payments.
Transneft Vice President Mikhail Barsky told Interfax previously that the meeting would not set the final date for project completion.
TBP was registered in February 2008 in Amsterdam. The governments of Russia, Bulgaria and Greece signed the agreement to build the pipeline in March 2007 in Athens.
TBP's founders are: TK-BA (Russia) with 51%, Project Company Burgas-Alexandroupolis BG (Bulgaria) with 24.5%, Helle C.A. - Traki C.A. (Greece) with 23.5%, and the Greek government with 1%. The founders of TK-BA, created on January 18, 2007, were: Russian oil pipeline company Transneft with 33.34%, Gazprom Neft with 33.33%, and Rosneft , also with 33.33%.
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