Although Bulgaria has completed its part of the “Turkish Stream” gas pipeline towards the border with Serbia, the first quantities of Russian “blue energy” will flow through it in the spring at the earliest because additional works need to be done, energy experts told Danas, following the news that “Balkan Stream” as the gas pipeline section between Bulgaria and Serbia is still called, is completely completed on the Bulgarian side.
The installation of the pipeline in our country has been completed, but that does not mean that the gas from Bulgaria to Serbia will flow soon.
The Secretary General of the Gas Association of Serbia, Vojislav Vuletic, says for Danas that it is necessary to report additional infrastructural works in order for the gas pipeline to be completely completed, ie fully technically qualified for its role.
– That means that two compressor stations should be built in Serbia so that the gas can be transported to Hungary without any problems. Also, it is necessary for the Hungarians to build their part of the gas pipeline, so that they can get Russian gas “Turkish Stream” from the direction of our country. When all that is taken into account and almost earlier predictions, it could be expected that the first quantities of gas from Bulgaria to Serbia and further to Hungary will flow in the spring – our interlocutor explains.
He adds that the fact that the “Turkish Stream” in Bulgaria towards Serbia is completely built is good news and a very important thing for our country because it will not envy only the gas it received from the direction of Hungary.
– In that way, Serbia got other directions for gas supply. For now, we only have one from the north. In case that happens, we are left without an alternative way to supply gas. Now, that will no longer be the case, because in the event of a supply interruption, for any reason from the north, Serbia will be able to count on Russian gas from the south, that is, from the direction of Bulgaria – Vuletic states.
The construction of the “Turkish Stream” section through Serbia began in March 2019 and was completed at the end of that year.
The “Turkish Stream” gas pipeline started operating on January 8, running along the bottom of the Black Sea from Russia to the coast of Turkey. From there, Russian gas is further transported to Northern Macedonia, Bulgaria and Greece.
“Turkish Stream” has a planned capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas per year, and it would be further transported from Serbia to Hungary and Croatia.
This project would be lucrative for Serbia because it would provide it with sufficient quantities of “blue energy”, an alternative supply route, but it would also bring it income from the transit tax, Danas reports.
