diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index f3eb2eb..1de3f49 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 image: openjdk:17-jdk-slim
 
 stages:
+  - prepare
   - build
   - release
 
@@ -9,6 +10,18 @@ before_script:
 #  - echo "$CI_BUILD_NAME, $CI_BUILD_REF_NAME $CI_BUILD_STAGE" # debug
   - export GRADLE_USER_HOME=`pwd`/.gradle
 
+prepare_job:
+  stage: prepare                                              # This stage must run before the release stage
+  rules:
+    - if: $CI_COMMIT_TAG
+      when: never                                             # Do not run this job when a tag is created manually
+    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH             # Run this job when commits are pushed or merged to the default branch
+  script:
+    - echo "TAG=v$(cat VERSION)" >> variables.env             # and append to the variables.env file
+  artifacts:
+    reports:
+      dotenv: variables.env                                   # Use artifacts:reports:dotenv to expose the variables to other jobs
+
 cache:
   paths:
     - .gradle/wrapper
@@ -37,9 +50,9 @@ release:
       when: never                                  # Do not run this job when a tag is created manually
     - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH  # Run this job when commits are pushed or merged to the default branch
   script:
-    - echo "running release for $CI_COMMIT_TAG"
+    - echo "running release for $TAG"
   release:
-    name: 'Release $CI_COMMIT_TAG'
+    name: 'Release $TAG'
     description: 'Created using the release-cli $EXTRA_DESCRIPTION'  # $EXTRA_DESCRIPTION and the $TAG
-    tag_name: '$CI_COMMIT_TAG'                                                 # variables must be defined elsewhere
+    tag_name: '$TAG'                                                 # variables must be defined elsewhere
     ref: '$CI_COMMIT_SHA'                                            # in the pipeline. For example, in the
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