First volumes of gas deliveries for Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina from Bulgaria via the extension of TurkStream gas pipeline could technically start on 1 January 2021, said Director of Serbian gas company Srbijagas Dusan Bajatovic. Bajatovic said that with the connection of Serbian and Bulgarian sections of the pipelines, works are almost completed, however, there are still works on the management automation, while testing and filling the pipeline with natural gas are currently ongoing.
He noted that Serbian compressor station along the route of the pipeline will be completed in May 2021, by which time Bulgaria will complete its first compressor station, while the second one will be built in 2022. It is expected that commercial operation of the pipeline could start in third or fourth quarter of 2021.
Serbia has completed the laying of the pipes for its section of the TurkStream gas pipeline extension in December last year. The construction of Serbian section, connecting Bulgarian and Hungarian borders, has officially started in May 2019. With an envisaged capacity of almost 14 billion cubic meters of gas per year, 403 kilometers long Serbian section should be put into operation as early as 2020, and reach its full capacity during 2022. The operator of the pipeline in Serbia is local company Gastrans, a joint venture between Russian Gazprom and state-owned gas company Srbijagas.
