Serbia, Bulgaria Complete Gas Pipeline to Reduce Dependence on Russia
Serbia and Bulgaria have completed the construction of a gas interconnector aimed at reducing dependence on Russian gas by diversifying supplies, Bloomberg and Reuters report.
Work on the project began in February. The 170-kilometre-long pipeline runs from the Serbian town of Nis to the outskirts of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.
Its annual capacity is 1.8 billion cubic metres, which could cover up to 60% of Serbia's consumption.
The new line will allow Serbia to access alternative gas supplies from Greece or Azerbaijan, and provide Bulgaria with access to gas from Western Europe or the Adriatic Sea.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev attended the opening ceremony in Nis on Sunday.
The European Commission has allocated €49.6 million for the construction of the pipeline. Another €25 million was provided by the European Investment Bank as a loan. The remaining €22.5 million is Serbia's money.
"With this interconnector we are securing alternative gas supplies, apart from the Russian gas," said Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic.
Last year, Serbia said it wanted to reduce the volume of imported Russian gas.
On 15 November, Serbia signed an agreement with Azerbaijan to purchase 400 million cubic metres of natural gas per year starting in 2024. The capacity of the 170-kilometre gas pipeline on the Serbian side is 60% of the country's annual gas demand, which is about 3 billion cubic metres.
Serbia itself is not a member of the EU, but has been negotiating to join the bloc since 2014. However, despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Serbia continues to buy oil from Russia despite the sanctions.
On 21 June 2023, the governments of Hungary and Serbia signed an agreement on the construction of a new pipeline that will export Russian oil from the Druzhba pipeline to the Serbian market. The two countries announced their intention to implement this project in the autumn of 2022. Its cost will be more than $150 million, and it is expected to open around the end of 2024.
According to Djedovic Handanovic, Serbia could increase gas imports from Azerbaijan by 3 times by 2037.
Earlier, Greece and Bulgaria started commercial operation of the gas pipeline, which will help reduce the dependence of Southeast European countries on Russian gas.