"I join the IGB project at an extremely dynamic, but also very key stage of its development, in turbulent times for the European energy sector. This will be the most high-tech gas pipeline in Bulgaria and, at the same time, a completely new route for the import of natural gas to Southeast Europe, which will provide more solutions and energy flexibility for the region. Through the IGB, Greece and Bulgaria will position themselves in a completely new way on the gas map of the region, and I am honored to be part of this process," said Georgios Satlas.
ICGB introduces a new management model in response to the requirements to transform the project company into an independent transmission operator. After the General Meeting of Shareholders (BEH and IGI Poseidon) was held, a new Statute of the company was adopted. The changes are part of ICGB's obligations under the company's certification by the national energy regulators of Greece and Bulgaria, which was announced earlier in July. The company, which will operate the commercial gas interconnector with Greece, is introducing a two-tier management model – a key requirement for certification by national energy regulators to take effect.
At the General Assembly, a new executive director from the Greek side was elected and the members of two newly created structures - the Management Board and the Supervisory Board of the company - were approved. The newly elected members of the company's two governing bodies have been nominated for regulatory approval in March 2022 as part of the ICGB certification process as an independent transmission operator.
The company continues to be represented by two executive directors - Teodora Georgieva remains the representative from the Bulgarian side, and Georgios Satlas becomes the executive director from the Greek side. Satlas is a graduate mechanical engineer with a master's degree in business administration and management experience in the financial sector. He has worked with a number of companies in the field of investment and real estate management. He held a senior management position in the Greek state investment fund, as well as in subsidiaries of the four systemic Greek banks.
"I join the IGB project at an extremely dynamic, but also very key stage of its development, in turbulent times for the European energy sector. This will be the most high-tech gas pipeline in Bulgaria and, at the same time, a completely new route for the import of natural gas to Southeast Europe, which will provide more solutions and energy flexibility for the region. Through the IGB, Greece and Bulgaria will position themselves in a completely new way on the gas map of the region, and I am honored to be part of this process," said Satlas.
A basic requirement for executive directors is that they have not been part of a vertically integrated enterprise related to any of ICGB's shareholders for a certain period prior to taking up this position. The previous executive director from the Greek side, Konstantinos Karayanakos, is part of the team of the Greek DEPA Commercial S.A., which necessitates the change from the Greek side.
"The implementation of the intersystem gas connection Greece-Bulgaria is an extremely important element of the European energy strategy for the region and is among the main priorities of the two national governments. Working on this project is a serious professional challenge, but also an achievement, and I would like to thank the entire ICGB team for the efforts we put together to make this project happen," Karayanakos stated. The ICGB team would like to thank Konstantinos Karayanakos for his efforts and the results achieved so far.
Teodora Georgieva and Georgios Satlas are part of the ICGB Board of Directors, which consists of 4 members. The other two representatives elected by the shareholders are Tanko Stanilov and Giuseppe Macri. Stanilov has over 10 years of experience as a regional manager at "Toplivo Gaz" EOOD. Macri joins the ICGB Management Board following his involvement with the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP), where he held the position of Commercial Operations Manager.
Vesselin Petrov, Panagiotis Rizos, Angel Yankov, Momchil Vanov, Fabio Santambrogio and Georgios Polichroniou were elected as members of the newly established Supervisory Board of the company. The nominations were made on a parity basis by the shareholders - BEH and IGI Poseidon.
The changes have entered into force and have already been published in the Commercial Register.
The IGB (Greece-Bulgaria Intersystem Gas Connection) project is implemented by the mixed investment company "ICGB" JSC, registered in Bulgaria in 2011 with shareholders BEH JSC (50%) and IGI Poseidon (50%). The co-shareholder IGI Poseidon is a company registered in Greece, with shareholders the Greek company DEPA International Projects (50%) and the Italian energy group Edison S.p.A (50%).
In accordance with its charter, ICGB JSC should be the owner of the IGB gas pipeline, financing its implementation, distributing its transmission capacity and receiving revenues from the transmission of natural gas.
The IGB gas pipeline is designed to connect with the Greek national gas transmission system (DESFA S.A.) and the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline (TAP AG) in the area of Komotini (Greece), and with the Bulgarian gas transmission system (Bulgartransgaz EAD) in the area of Stara Zagora. The total length of the gas pipeline is 182 km, the diameter of the pipe - 32'' - and a design capacity of up to 3 billion m3/year. in the direction of Greece-Bulgaria. Depending on the market interest in using a larger capacity and the possibilities of the neighboring gas transmission systems, the capacity is designed to increase to 5 billion m3/year. with additional construction of a compressor station.
Source: Диана Зайкова - 0885/074 422, 0885/614 131, Росица Донкова - 0888 343 661