The construction of the Balkan Stream has actually been completed, since the Bulgarian part of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline is connected to the section in Serbia, a source familiar with the situation said.
“The Balkan stream is over, it is connected to the gas pipeline in Serbia. Official events related to the completion of the gas pipeline are not being held due to the coronavirus pandemic, the ceremony will probably be held later,” the source said, according to Russian media.
In January 2019, Bulgaria made a decision to continue the branch of the Turkish Stream to Serbia.
In that regard, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, said in October 2020 that Serbia would complete the construction of the gas pipeline from the Bulgarian to the Hungarian border by the end of the year. The construction of the Serbian section of the Turkish Stream began in March 2019, reports Sputnik.
As a reminder, the Balkan Stream is a branch of the Turkish Stream that will take Russian gas to Serbia and further to Europe.
The Turkish Stream gas pipeline, which began operations on January 8, runs along the bottom of the Black Sea from Russia to the Turkish coast. The land transit branch continues to the border with neighboring countries, from where gas is already exported to Greece, Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia. In the future (after the completion of the construction of the entire infrastructure), the gas will go to Serbia and Hungary. The capacity of the 930 km long gas pipeline is 31.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year, B92 reports.
