The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will lend €60m to the Romanian gas transmission system operator Transgaz for the construction of the 1,318 km BRUA interconnection pipeline between Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Austria. The total project cost is estimated at €479m: Transgaz will invest €149m on top of the EBRD financing, while the European Union (EU) is providing €179m in grants and the European Investment Bank (EIB) €50m.
The BRUA pipeline will have an initial capacity of 1.75 bcm/year, which will be further increased in the future to 4.4 bcm/year. As one of the European Commission's Projects of Common Interest (PCIs), it aims at enhancing regional energy security by diversifying gas supply routes. Once built, it would ensure the interconnection of the Bulgarian and Hungarian gas transmission systems with the gas transmission system in Romania and Austria.