With the construction of the Turkish Stream, which will soon supply Russian gas, Serbia is releasing the gas route from Hungary.
Thus, gas from the Austrian warehouse Baumgarten could arrive in our country, and with the construction of the interconnector Nis – Dimitrovgrad – Azerbaijani gas through Greece.
However, which gas, in addition to Russian gas, and whether it will arrive in Serbia will be mostly determined by its price, says the editor-in-chief of the Energy Balkans portal, Jelica Putnikovic.
She notes that, even if all possible directions for an alternative to Russian gas work, all that would still be insufficient to replace the complete consumption of Russian gas in the Balkans, as well as in Serbia.
“As for the gas terminal on Krk, which will be operational at the beginning of next year, the question is which gas will arrive there and what the gas prices will be,” Putnikovic told Tanjug.
She adds that hypothetically, Serbia could also receive American liquefied natural gas (LNG) through the terminal on Krk, but, she points out, the question is what its price would be.
The White House Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, Richard Grenell, recently said that he was proud that the Serbian government agreed to energy diversification with the Washington Agreement, stating that it was a victory for the United States, because 100% of energy came to Serbia from Russia so far.
Putnikovic points out that everything still depends on who the companies that leased the gas terminal on Krk will sign a contract with, that is, whose gas they will buy.
“A tanker with LNG gas can sail from anywhere in the world, but the further the source of LNG gas is, the more expensive the transit,” she says.
Putnikovic says that it is true that Serbia is dependent on Russian energy, since we currently receive Russian gas from the direction of Hungary, but that we will also receive it when the Turkish flow through our country starts working.
“However, thanks to the EU, Serbia has accelerated the construction of the gas connection with Bulgaria, from Nis to Dimitrovgrad, which means that, in addition to the Turkish Stream, which will enter Serbia near Zajecar, we will also have a gas pipeline near Nis, which will be connected to the Bulgarian gas pipeline.”
This means that we will be able to get gas that comes to Bulgaria from Greece from any source.
Tanjug’s interlocutor points out that the United States is campaigning against Russian gas in Europe, including the Balkans, but, she points out, the Balkans did not have an alternative to Russian gas until the TAP (Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline) was built.
Turkey, for example, received gas either through the Blue Stream (from Russia to Turkey through the Black Sea) or through Ukraine’s gas pipeline systems, which reached Bulgaria through Turkey through Moldova and Romania, she says.
The TAP gas pipeline is being filled from the TANAP (Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline), which starts from Azerbaijan with gas from the Caspian Sea area, Putnikovic said, adding that Azerbaijan could have problems with gas transit to Turkey due to the ongoing war in that country.
By the way, Greece already has an LNG terminal near Antina and it is possible, even until the LNG terminal near Alexandroupolis is completed, to get gas that arrives by tankers to Greece, and further to Bulgaria and Serbia.
That gas would be more expensive due to its delivery from Athens to the Bulgarian border, adds the interlocutor of Tanjug.
“On the other hand, the Bulgarians recently modified an annex to the agreement with the consortium that is building a gas pipeline through Bulgaria (Turkish Stream, which they call the Balkan Stream), and December 15 has been set as the date for the pipeline to be completed.”
When Serbia receives Russian gas from the direction of Bulgaria, it will hypothetically be released from the direction from Hungary for obtaining gas from other sources, that is, from the largest gas storage in Europe, Baumgarten, Putnikovic stated.
It is also considering building a gas connection with Romania. This means that Serbia is already working on the diversification of gas supply sources, even without what was agreed in Washington, Putnikovic added.
She says that some countries are bothered by Russian gas for political reasons, but that some Western European analysts said more than a year ago that if TANAP and TAP pipelines need to be filled with someone from a gas pipeline, if there is not enough gas in the Caspian region, that it could be Russian gas arriving in Turkey or the Blue Stream or the Turkish Stream.
When it comes to the Oil Industry of Serbia, its majority owner is Gazpromneft. Putnikovic says that oil arrives in Serbia either by the Adriatic oil pipeline or by barges from the port of Constanta.
“Since when will NIS buy oil, apart from what it produces in Vojvodina, it is determined by the price. The cheapest oil will be bought, as well as the types of oil that are needed for processing at the Pancevo Oil Refinery.”
According to Putnikovic, Gazpromneft, as a large company, can get the best prices for purchases, and it is difficult to import some cheaper oil.
However, oil companies from EU member states are present in Serbia, such as Hellenic Petrol, MOL, OMV…
Serbia is the first country in the Balkans to open a free market for petroleum products. For example, in Slovenia, the state still determines fuel prices, even though Slovenia is a member of the EU, B92 reports.
