the contractor “Alvora” has to replace possibly Russian parts in the main gas pipeline at his own expense

VERT: AmberGrid is required to replace some of the pipeline details

As VERT reported on Thursday, a total of 1,022 fittings are installed in the main gas pipeline of Lithuania and Poland (GIPL).

Of these, AmberGrid is required to replace 123 whose labeling does not match the data on their certificates and which do not have provenance documents.

AmberGrid also has until May 31 to provide a schedule for the inspection of the remaining details, which it must coordinate with VERT. “During the inspection, it was established that 123 fittings were made of steel, which at that time could not be used in the European Union and did not have certificates confirming the origin and quality,” VERT also says about the violations of the gas pipeline.

“We can confirm that Cyrillic markings were found on the parts, but we cannot say for one hundred percent that they were made in Russia, because there are no certificates confirming the country of origin. From the available information, we can assume that they are of Russian origin,” adds the market regulator.

True, on Tuesday, the portal 15min announced that possibly Russian parts of the gas pipeline could have been transported through Estonia from the Eterno factory in Russia.

“On October 10, 2023, the unscheduled inspection commission determined the presence of the Eterno plant’s design details by determining the actual circumstances at the Santaka gas metering and pressure regulation station. Where and under what circumstances the details came from, the commission did not investigate”, VERT comments on this situation in a comment to Eltai.

The council says it also plans to apply to the Construction Sector Development Agency with a request to assess whether the Amber Grid employees who participated in the construction of the gas pipeline performed their duties properly.

AmberGrid: Parts to be replaced at contractor Alvora’s expense

The main gas pipeline started operating on May 1, 2022. According to VERT, before the start-up it was issued a certificate of reliability of the technical condition, because “both documents and tests confirmed that the GIPL gas pipeline can work”.

“During this unscheduled inspection, the damage detected could only be detected by cleaning the parts, ie by scraping off the paint. These things should have been noticed by the technical supervisor of the construction (Alvora – ELTA)”, emphasizes the Council.

The manager of AmberGrid, Nemunas Biknius, told reporters on Friday that it may take a year or more for the system operator to replace non-compliant parts in the gas pipeline.

Also, according to him, the project contractor “Alvora” should take responsibility for possible Russian parts of strategic importance in the Lithuanian gas pipeline.

According to N. Bikniaus, it should also finance the replacement of the details themselves.

“The construction technical regulation and the GIPL contract clearly state that the contractor is responsible for the compliance of details and documents. With such a legal responsibility of the contractor, protecting the interests of both the company and the consumers, we must ensure that parts of the gas pipeline that do not meet the requirements are replaced at the contractor’s expense,” says Nemunas Biknius, head of Amber Grid.

According to AmberGrid, an internal investigation found that contractor Alvora had not performed its duties properly during the GIPL project.

The company itself found that some of the connecting parts do not have the appropriate certificates and therefore appealed to the prosecutor’s office. VERT also claims that it has already handed over part of the research material to law enforcement, which is conducting a pre-trial investigation.

In February, AmberGrid announced that it had filed a claim against Alvora and, in order to correct the deficiencies in the certification of details, took a bank guarantee from the contractor Alvora, is currently preparing public procurement documentation to select a new contractor for the replacement of details, and the schedule of further work is planned.

The market regulator says it was not informed of this claim made by Amber Grid to Alvora or its contents.

According to AmberGrid, from the start of operation of GIPL in 2022 in May until 2024 in April, it transmitted 16.2 TWh (terawatt-hours) in both directions, or 8 percent. Lithuania consumed more gas than in 2023.

According to the system operator, the gas pipeline, which has been operating for the past two years, has been operated safely and reliably, during this period no technical indicators were recorded that would allow doubts about the safe use of the gas pipeline.

The installation of the GIPL gas pipeline cost a total of about 500 million. euros.

About 60 percent of them funds were allocated by the European Commission, and Lithuania allocated about 116 million to this project. euros.