Serbia is moving towards procurement and construction of a new gas interconnector with Romania, adding another supply corridor as Belgrade accelerates investment in transmission pipelines, storage and regional connections.
The Serbian section of the planned Mokrin-Romania interconnector will be about 13.1 km long, connecting the domestic transmission network with Romania and, through it, the BRUA gas corridor linking Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria.
The overall interconnector will include roughly 86 km of pipeline in Romania and is designed for at least 1.6 billion cubic metres of gas a year, with bidirectional transmission planned.
Serbia aims to complete its section during 2027, moving a project discussed for several years closer to physical execution.
The importance of the connection goes beyond its relatively short Serbian section.
Romania has become increasingly important to Southeast European gas diversification because of its domestic production, transmission connections and access to the wider Central and Eastern European market. Serbia’s direct connection would create an additional route alongside its existing connections with Hungary and Bulgaria and a planned new interconnector with North Macedonia.
For Serbia, that could gradually shift gas security away from dependence on a small number of entry routes towards a network capable of accessing competing regional sources.
Interconnector needs domestic pipelines
The project also exposes a less visible constraint in Serbia’s diversification strategy.
A cross-border pipeline is commercially useful only if the domestic transmission network can move incoming gas efficiently to storage sites and major consumers.
Serbia is therefore preparing a much broader expansion of its gas system.
The World Bank approved $600 million for Serbia’s Gas Sector Development Program in September, structured as a multi-phase programme over about 10 years. The first phase provides around €170 million and will start with the Trupale-Pojate transmission pipeline and institutional and technical reforms.
Later phases are expected to include additional pipelines and storage infrastructure.
One strategically important planned route would connect the Mokrin area with Banatski Dvor, Pančevo and Belgrade, creating a direct transmission corridor between gas entering from Romania, Serbia’s principal storage infrastructure and its largest industrial and urban demand centres.
Planning documents envisage roughly 150 km of new transmission infrastructure on that axis.
That means the Romania interconnector should increasingly be viewed not as an isolated cross-border project but as the northern entry point into a larger redesign of Serbia’s gas network.
Industrial demand strengthens commercial case
The commercial test will be whether new infrastructure also creates more supplier competition.
Serbia has already completed the interconnector with Bulgaria, giving it physical access to Azerbaijani gas and LNG entering Southeast Europe through Greece.
Bulgaria’s state-owned Bulgargaz has now also obtained a Serbian wholesale gas-trading licence, widening the number of companies potentially capable of using those routes.
A Romanian connection would add another procurement direction.
Large industrial users in sectors including chemicals, metals, food processing, construction materials and district heating could ultimately benefit if multiple suppliers are able to offer gas through different physical routes.
That would make pipeline capacity, cross-border booking arrangements, storage access and transparent transmission tariffs increasingly important commercial variables.
The opportunity is particularly relevant as Serbia develops additional gas-fired generation and seeks to use gas as part of its transition away from more carbon-intensive fuels.
Execution now matters more than announcements
The project nevertheless carries clear execution risks.
Romania must build a substantially longer section than Serbia, meaning the commercial opening of the route depends on coordinated construction and commissioning on both sides of the border.
Serbia must also build enough downstream transmission capacity to prevent bottlenecks once additional gas reaches Mokrin.
Storage expansion will be equally important. More import routes provide limited security if Serbia cannot accumulate sufficient reserves or move stored gas rapidly towards major consumption centres during periods of high demand.
The next phase of Serbia’s gas strategy is therefore becoming increasingly infrastructure-driven.
The country already has the diplomatic agreements and much of the regulatory framework needed for diversification. It is now beginning to assemble the physical system required to make those alternative routes commercially meaningful.
If the Romanian interconnector and associated domestic pipelines are completed as planned, Serbia’s gas market could start moving from a model built around supply security through individual contracts towards one based increasingly on competition between routes, suppliers and regional gas sources.
The main infrastructure parameters and 2027 target are supported by Serbia’s Energy Ministry and government, while the World Bank confirmed the $600 million programme and €170 million first phase.
