Twelve companies have so far applied to take part in the contest for selecting the contractor that will build the section of the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline that will go through Moldova. The deadline for applications is July 22 and the Ministry of Economy plans to choose the winner by August 20, IPN reports.

Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar told a news conference that effort will be made to launch the works on August 27, when Moldova celebrates the Independence Day.

The pipeline will be almost 11 km long and the investments will amount to about€9 million. The transport capacity will be 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas a year.

Valeriu Lazar said the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline comes to achieve the strategic objective of ensuring an alternative source of gas at a competitive price. This fact will strengthen Moldova’s energy security.

This May, when the Moldovan economy minister met his Romanian counterpart, the two officials discussed the construction of an extension to the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline towards Starseni, from where the gas will go to Chisinau, which is the largest consumer of gas in the country.