Azerbaijani gas reaches Serbia via Bulgaria, and from there to Hungary. The line was put into trial operation. One of the largest contiguous natural gas fields in the world, Shah Deniz, is located on the territory of the Caucasian state. However, it alone cannot replace the entire volume of Russian oil and natural gas lost – yet it has become one of the most important suppliers to the European Union. Azerbaijan transported 8.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the European Union territory via the Southern Natural Gas Pipeline the year before last. This year, according to the Azerbaijani President, this amount is expected to exceed 12 billion cubic meters.
Hungary will buy 100 million cubic meters of this – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Ilham Aliyev agreed this summer.
During the handover, the Serbian Energy Minister stressed that the Bulgaria-Serbia pipeline is not only important in terms of gas supplies to Serbia and Central and Eastern Europe. According to Dubravka Dedovic Handanovic, this will put Serbia on the European “gas supply map”.
The Bulgarian President also agreed to this.
Rumen Radev said that the pipeline between Bulgaria and Serbia “will change the energy map in Europe.”
Ilham Aliyev added that it contributes to “energy security” on the continent. The Azerbaijani President said that Serbia is the ninth European country to which Azerbaijan exports gas.
There will be no Bulgarian transit fees
Construction of the 109-kilometre gas pipeline between Dimitrovgrad in Bulgaria and Nis, near the border, took nearly a year. The total length of the pipeline, which starts near Sofia and reaches the third most populous city in Serbia, is 170 km.
The value of the business amounts to 85.5 million euros, or approximately 33 billion forints, of which Brussels contributed more than half, or about 50 million euros. The European Investment Bank granted a €25 million loan to Serbia, which, with its own resources, allocated €15 million for the construction of the Serbian section of the pipeline, and another €7.5 million for planning.
It was a joy that the Bulgarian government stuck to its previous decision for a long time and, despite Hungarian and Serbian protests, imposed transit fees on Russian gas shipments passing through its country.
At the beginning of November, Sofia imposed additional export duties on all gas passing through Bulgaria, not just from Russia.
Only now have the Bulgarian government parties decided to abandon this joke. written by wallet.
Serbia requested four times the amount from Hungary from Azerbaijan
In Serbia, gas accounts for only 13% of energy consumption, which until now arrived via Bulgaria via the Balkan stream, and from the north via the Hungarian gas pipeline. The annual capacity of the new pipeline, which has entered into trial operation, is 1.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas, or 60 percent of Serbia’s total annual demand.
Serbia signed a contract with Azerbaijan to import 400 million cubic meters of natural gas to Azaz, which is four times the amount of Hungary.
It is possible that part of the contracted quantity will be paid for with weapons. After commissioning the gas pipeline, Serbian Aleksandar Vucic and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev participated in a military parade, where the equipment of the Serbian Armed Forces was displayed – mentioned Gate N1.
Serbia has a long tradition and long past in the production of military equipment.
(Cover photo: Construction of a gas pipeline connecting Bulgaria and Serbia on February 24, 2023. Photo: Oliver Bonić/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
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