Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that the Government will speed up the construction of gas interconnection between Serbia and Bulgaria as it plans to start the construction of this gas pipeline ahead of schedule.
PM Brnabic explained that 50 million euros provided by the European Union plus funds from the state budget will allow that the construction of Serbia-Bulgaria gas link to start ealier than initially planned. She added that the project will provide diversification of sources while improving the security of supply of Serbia, Bulgaria and the entire region. On the other hand, the northern part of Serbian gas system will be significantly relieved, and therefore the security of supply of transit routes to Bosnia and Herzegovina will be ensured.
Last week, Bulgaria and Serbia have signed a joint declaration on the construction of gas interconnection between the two countries on the sidelines of the EU-Western Balkans Summit held in Sofia. With this document, the two countries declare their irrevocable commitment to implementing the project so that gas interconnection could be put in operation by May 2022 at the latest. They also agreed to establish a work group that will oversee the construction of the pipeline, within which all issues regarding the project will be discussed and resolved.
Last January, Bulgarian Minister of Energy Temenuzhka Petkova and her Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Antic have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the project for the construction of gas interconnection between Bulgaria and Serbia. According to the MoU, both sides should pay maximum efforts in order to speed up activities on the project. The construction of the gas pipeline between the two countries should begin by May 2019. Initial plans envisaged that the pipeline should be completed by the end of 2020.
The project for gas interconnection between Bulgaria and Serbia envisages the construction of gas pipeline with the annual capacity of 1.8 billion cubic meters of gas.
