Apart from the Russia-Ukraine route, which is now the only gas coming, our country can count on the Turkish Stream pipeline, the route from Romania, from Greece through Bulgaria and from Slovakia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin rejoiced in much of Europe and the Western Balkans, that is, all countries receiving gas through Ukraine, that this transit will continue beyond January 1, 2020. For Serbia, this news is of great importance, because our country is now getting gas one way from Ukraine through Hungary. At a traditional annual press conference, Putin announced that Russia would continue to deliver gas to Europe through Ukraine, negotiated by Russia’s Gazprom and Ukraine’s Naftogas.
As this should also be a definite agreement between the two countries on the transit of blue fuel for the rest of Europe, it can be breathtaking, but only for a moment. Because without alternative pipelines and gas sources, any of the countries on the route of Ukraine can at any time lose this energy if this country interrupts transit, as it was in 2009, due to problems with Russia.
Serbia therefore counts on four different routes of gas supply in the future. One is the Turkish Stream, the other is from Romania, the third is interconnection with Bulgaria, for which Serbia received 50m euros from the European Commission, and the fourth is Greece-Bulgaria-Serbia. The gas pipeline would send US gas from Alexandroupolos via Bulgaria to Serbia, so this route is called American gas.
By the way, Serbia is completing works on its section of the Turkish Stream pipeline from Bulgaria to Hungary these days, and according to the latest data, all the pipes have already been delivered and distributed along the route. 395 of the total 403 kilometers of pipes have been welded and the rest will be welded by the end of the year.
According to the source of Politika, there is still a need to do the block, measuring and cleaning stations, as well as the compressor stations, which were planned for next year. Otherwise, this pipeline will bring blue fuel from Turkey via Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary to Europe’s largest gas storage facility – Baumgarten in Austria.
When the Turkish Stream is completed, gas will be taken up in three places – in Paracin, Belgrade and Zrenjanin. If needed, Srbijagas will supply the Federation of BiH, as recently confirmed by General Manager Dusan Bajatovic. By the way, Srbijagas is also working on interconnection with Romania, which is still a major gas producer, and when it starts delivering gas from the Black Sea, it will become an exporter.
Romania is building a gas pipeline and Serbia is negotiating to increase domestic transportation options to Belgrade, which would also make it the fourth gas supply route. What will be the capacity in this direction will be known after tendering and how much interest there is for this pipeline, but most importantly, both Serbia and Romania have money for this project. Our country is also counting on gas from the alternative routes Bulgaria-Greece-Serbia, from Alexandroupolos. It is a gas that would come from the Caspian region.
Even if Russia and Ukraine did not agree on continuation of deliveries, Serbia would have enough gas this winter. Because there are already 550 million cubic meters in the Banatski Dvor underground gas storage, and another 300 million cubic meters is provided to cover possible risks. Serbia is also the only country in the region that has contracted gas prices with Gazprom, which is very keen to deliver the agreed quantities. From 2022, Serbia should receive gas from the Serbia-Bulgaria route, because by then this pipeline should be operational. A building permit has been obtained and a tender should be announced soon.
The existing pipeline through Russia, Ukraine and Hungary has nothing to do with the future of “Turkish stream”. These are two different pipelines. Otherwise, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova would have the biggest problems in delivering gas in case of interruption through Ukraine.
Hungary is also interested in diversifying gas routes. Today, this gas is coming from the east, but they are also counting on the direction from the south, that is, the Turkish Stream route. Serbia has another, fifth alternative, to supply gas in the event of interruption of flow via Ukraine, from Slovakia, which Russia has offered as a possible route. The transport route through Slovakia was also used during the 2009 gas crisis. About two million cubic meters per day could be transported in this direction, while three to four million cubic meters would be transported from Banatski Dvor, reports Politika.
