In Serbia, the start of the Balkan Stream was marked modestly, although it is the beginning of a new economic era. Not in Bulgaria. Bulgarians even celebrated the start of Azerbaijani gas supplies.
Some, especially Western analysts and politicians, do not call this gas pipeline Turkish or Balkan, or even the Tesla gas pipeline – there was, we will remember, a proposal to give it that name, at least in Serbia – they call it the Russian gas pipeline. That “Russian” is also the answer for the lack of celebration, writes the portal Energija Balkana.
Russian gas officially flowed to Serbia and Bulgaria, through the Balkans, on January 1st this year. Without much fanfare. No foreign guests. The main gas pipeline from the Bulgarian to the Hungarian border was opened in the morning in the town of Gospodjinci in Vojvodina by the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.
In Gospodjinci, gas from the new gas pipeline is “flowing” into the existing gas pipeline system of Serbia.
This is the beginning of a new economic era in Serbia, which is becoming a transit country for gas. Admittedly, Russian gas.
And, here we move from the economic sphere to the political one. In fact, geopolitical because gas has no political color. Energy has beaten politics
And, it becomes clear why not only Serbian but also Bulgarian politicians tried not to talk about a large geostrategic infrastructure project. And the gas pipeline from Turkey from the Hungarian border, through the territory of Bulgaria and Serbia, which were left without South Stream in 2014, is a large infrastructure project. Important for energy and economic security, a prerequisite for gasification and the opening of new factories. And even if it is not yet used in full. Even if Bulgaria and Serbia will consume non-Russian gas in the future.
“We did this in silence. Under great pressure. We had to do that,” said Dusan Bajatovic, General Manager of Srbijagas, and President Vucic pointed out in Gospodjinci: “This is an important day for our country, let the gas go and let us be even more successful. I congratulate you on the New Year and I want to thank all our Russian friends who participated with us in the construction of this gas pipeline. Congratulations on your great work, this is of great importance for industry, the progress of the Serbian economy, but also of great importance for all the inhabitants of our country.”
Unlike the pompous ceremony held on January 8 last year in Istanbul, when the guests of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were at the celebration of the commissioning of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
However, there were no celebrations in Bulgaria either.
It is interesting that the German Deutsche Welle wonders why Borisov was not at the ceremony in Gospodjinci. Why didn’t Borisov attend the launch of the gas pipeline that was supposed to turn Bulgaria into a “strategic gas distribution center”?
On January 1st, when Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic launched the gas pipeline (Turkish Stream 2, Deutsche Welle writes), through which the first quantities of Russian gas began to arrive in Serbia via Turkey and Bulgaria, he was in the Bulgarian town of Kulata to show that Azerbaijani gas enters Bulgaria.
“From today – full diversification!”, Borisov announced, considering the fact that the agreed billion cubic meters of blue fuel from Azerbaijan has started to reach Bulgarian consumers.
And, that’s the right answer. He wasn’t in Gospodjinci because he didn’t want to upset Washington.
So, it was more convenient for Borisov to “show up” in the domestic media on January 1st, marking the arrival of non-Russian gas in Bulgaria. And, by the way, he did not even take pictures to mark the end of the Balkan Stream in Bulgaria. The total capacity of the inlet pipe to Bulgaria is 19.3 billion cubic meters per year, and Bulgartransgas can deliver 13.88 billion cubic meters per year to Serbia.
The day after the opening of the Balkan Stream in Serbia, Vucic and Borisov, according to a statement from the Serbian president’s office, stated in a telephone conversation that the completion of the Balkan Stream gas pipeline and its commissioning is an exceptional success of two friendly and brotherly countries. They especially emphasized that this is a significant feat, because the works were successfully completed in the conditions of the corona virus pandemic.
The two politicians also discussed the construction of a gas interconnector between Serbia and Bulgaria, which the two countries would immediately start building, and which, after the construction of the interconnector between Bulgaria and Greece (IGB gas pipeline), will contribute to even greater stability and energy security in the region.
Bulgarian media also report that one of the focuses of the talks between Borisov and Vucic was the energy partnership.
“In the worst pandemic of Covid-19, work on energy projects in our country continues, so Serbia becomes a transit country for gas. We have also focused our efforts on building another interconnection of Sofia with Serbia in order to ensure security of energy supply,” said Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
Therefore, our eastern neighbors did not celebrate the completion of the Balkan Stream pipeline or the beginning of gas transit to Serbia.
Anyone who follows the messages from Washington about the new sanctions for North Stream 2 and Turkish Stream is clear why.
But Bulgarians seem to have another reason. Next year, in 2022, their long-term contract with Gazprom on gas supply expires. So Borisov decided to “kill two flies” with one blow. Not to anger American politicians at the same time threatening Gazprom that they do not have to buy Russian gas, it is stated on the Energy of the Balkans portal.
It should be said, by the way, that the gas connection Greece – Bulgaria between Komotini and Stara Zagora has not been completed, although Borisov himself was announced in mid-November last year that he would start on January 1st. This IGB gas pipeline is a link of Bulgaria to the TAP gas pipeline, through which Azerbaijani gas reaches Greece, as well as with the future LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis near Thessaloniki. Due to the delay, Bulgaria is now using its current connection to the Greek gas pipeline network Sidirokastro-Kulata. Now, the start of this gas pipeline is announced for April, ie autumn this year, but the exact date is difficult to predict. And in order for the Azerbaijani gas to still flow, the original contract with the Azerbaijani SOKAR was changed.
Borisov proudly stated “This is complete diversification”. Recalling the cold winters (2006 and 2009), when he was mayor of Sofia, when Gazprom suspended gas supplies through Ukraine, when cities were left without heating energy, Borisov said, “Now that can’t happen because we have a new level of security of supply.”
Bulgaria has signed an agreement with Azerbaijan on the import of 1 billion cubic meters of gas a year, which is about a third of the country’s needs, and Borisov announced that he would talk to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to increase imports to 1.2 billion cubic meters when it is built.
Commenting that “our brothers in Serbia are happy that the Balkan Stream is working”, the Bulgarian Prime Minister announced that, when the Bulgaria-Greece interconnector is completed, which has the support of the EU and the USA, he will invite neighbors to celebrate with them, because what Bulgaria has done, it allows for complete diversification and allows our neighbors to benefit from transit fees, Sputnik News reports.
