The head of Srbijagas says that the “Turkish Stream” gas pipeline will be ready to cover the needs of Bulgaria, our country, BiH and Hungary by the end of the year.
The “Turkish Stream” gas pipeline will be completed by the end of the year at the latest, and thus be able to supply Bulgaria, Serbia, BiH and very quickly cover part of Hungary’s needs, so there will be no problems in supplying our country’s gas, says for Politika Dusan Bajatovic, general director of Srbijagas, commenting on the latest warning from “Gazprom” that “uncertainty about the political future of Belarus creates risks for stable transit of Russian gas to Europe, and continuous risk is also present for transit through Ukraine.”
– In that sense, we do not expect any problems in the supply, and most importantly, the price of gas will be similar to the current one if there are no significant disturbances in the price of oil – explains the first man of Srbijagas.
At this time, Serbia still receives gas only from one direction through Ukraine, and “Gazprom” reports that “with the interference that can be caused by commercial disputes, our transit through gas pipelines in Ukraine could also be disrupted if Ukraine cannot properly maintains and guarantees the safety of its gas pipelines due to the ongoing military conflict and / or lack of financial resources.”
Bajatovic explains that in order to have a secure and regular gas supply, Serbia is also developing an alternative scenario from the direction of Baumgarten, the largest gas storage in Europe, which can be reached by gas through the “North Stream” gas pipeline.
By the way, until the beginning of transit through Bulgaria, four gas measuring stations and compressor stations will be set up in Serbia. These are stations for receiving gas from the direction of Bulgaria, whose minimum consumption is 8.4 million cubic meters of gas per day, as well as three more stations for separation from the gas transport system, whose project consumption is from two to 4.6 million cubic meters of gas per day.
Srecko Djukic, an expert on gas conditions, says that since 1970, Ukraine, and later Belarus, have imposed themselves as natural transit routes for the transport of Russian gas in Europe, from Orenburg, and then from other Soviet and Russian gas fields. That irreplaceable transit role of these two countries only strengthened over time. It is known that almost every winter, Europe gets cold due to a possible shortage of gas due to Russian-Ukrainian-Belarusian conflicts of various natures, from price to political.
That uncertainty, he adds, has forced the European Union and its members to put the issue of gas security in the very focus of their energy policy and strategy and to develop a whole set of measures to reduce the mentioned risks. One of the most important gas security policies is the diversification of routes and countries from which gas is supplied, connecting the gas systems of EU member states.
– With this warning, Russia is telling Europe through “Gazprom” that it is necessary to complete the started projects “North Stream 2” and “Turkish Stream”, which can only guarantee it a stable gas supply. In other words, give up the sanctions announced for those projects. Serbia, as a country that is 100 percent dependent on Russian gas and one direction of supply through Ukraine, is most affected by the announcement of “Gazprom”. Since nothing can be learned in the short term, for example in terms of diversification, there are still political talks and contacts to avoid a bad scenario – says Djukic, Politika reports.
