Fuel from Azerbaijan will enter the country through the Bulgaria-Serbian pipeline, which is planned to be put into operation in the near future.
Serbia, which does not support the EU’s sanctions against Russia and continues to purchase gas from the aggressor country, agreed with Azerbaijan to increase its natural gas supply. So the country wants to buy 400 million cubic meters already in 2024. Reuters writes about it.
Azerbaijani fuel will be supplied to the republic through the Bulgaria-Serbian natural gas pipeline, which will be operational in the near future. Construction of the pipeline, which is expected to help Serbia reduce its dependence on Russian natural gas, started in February. Its length will be 170 km, of which 109 km will pass through Serbian territory. It will be possible to pump approximately 1.8 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
Important
According to Mining and Energy Minister Dubravka Djedović-Handanović, the new agreement will strengthen Serbia’s role as a transit country. And he said that in the future Belgrade will increase the volume of gas purchased from Baku.
It was noted that Serbia consumes 3.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually, 2 billion cubic meters of which is exported to Russia. The Republic wants to diversify its supply sources to ensure its own energy security.
“Azerbaijan is seen by Europe as an alternative source of energy imports, amid deep political disagreements with Moscow over the large-scale invasion of Ukraine and a sharp reduction in Russian gas purchases,” the publication said.
Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy noted that Serbia has already become the country’s eighth European customer. Previously, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, Turkey and Hungary had decided to cooperate with the country in the energy sector.
Important
Let us remind you that Azerbaijan started commercial gas supply to Europe in 2020. According to the agreement, Azerbaijan promised to supply more than 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually to Europe for 25 years through the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline. At the same time, Italy buys approximately 8 billion cubic meters, Greece and Bulgaria approximately two billion cubic meters each, and the remaining amount is exported to neighboring markets.
Let us also note that the European Union has proposed to Azerbaijan to increase natural gas imports to 20 billion cubic meters in the summer of 2022.
Source: Focus
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