Italy's Bonatti-led group to build gas pipeline in Bulgaria

A consortium led by Italian energy contractor Bonatti will build a pipeline that will carry Russian natural gas across Bulgaria, state network operator Bulgartransgaz said.

The group, which also includes a German construction firm Max Streicher and a Luxembourg-based unit of Russia’s TMK , would replace a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Arkad Engineering, which won a tender to build the pipeline last month.

Bulgartransgaz said the Saudi-led group failed to present the necessary documents upon by a deadline to seal the deal.

It said the project should be completed by the end of 2020 for 1.12 billion euros ($1.25 billion) after the consortium, led by Bonatti, sweetened its initial bid.

Bulgaria is rushing to build the 475-km pipeline linking its southern border with Turkey to its western border with Serbia to secure a link to the Russia-backed TurkStream twin pipeline to Serbia and Hungary.

Russia, which is building TurkStream to bypass Ukraine, has said it would need guarantees from the European Union that it would not oppose extending one of the legs of the 15.75 billion cubic metre per year pipeline via Bulgaria. ($1 = 0.8939 euros) (Reporting by Angel Krasimirov, editing by David Evans)