Bulgarian court puts an end to legal dispute, it's "all clear" for TurkStream

The Supreme Administrative Court in Bulgaria has announced that it has put an end to a dispute over the selection of contractors for the construction of the TurkStream pipeline across Bulgaria, eliminating all obstacles to the realization of the project, BTA reports.

Such a ruling means that two contractors involved in the legal dispute have reached an agreement on sharing participation in the construction of the pipeline, the Bulgarian agency added.

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In April, a consortium led by Saudi contractor Arkad Engineering won the tender to build the gas pipeline in length of nearly 500 kilometers through Bulgaria, but Bulgarian operator Bulgartransgaz said in May that Arkad had not submitted complete documentation, which disqualified the company.

The Bulgarian operator then signed a contract with another bidder, DZZD, which was selected as the new contractor.

Arkad, however, appealed against the decision of Bulgartransgaz to the Competition Commission, and won the dispute in June.

But this was followed by an appeal by the DZZD consortium in July before the Supreme Administrative Court, BTA said, adding that this legal dispute was expected to delay the project significantly.

Bulgarian portal mediapool.bg reported on September 4, quoting three unnamed sources familiar with the situation from government and gas business circles, that intense discussions were ongoing between Arkad and DZZD over sharing participation in the construction of the pipeline.

(Telegraf Biznis/Tanjug)