Serbia expects LNG deliveries from Greece to start soon

Athens: The completion of a gas interconnector with Bulgaria late last year provided Serbia with a link to natural gas sources in the Caspian region and the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the Greek port of Alexandroupolis, making Greece an important partner in the supply of gas, according to Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Ðedovic Handanovic.

Serbia has already agreed deliveries of 300 million cubic meters of gas a year from the LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis, once the facility becomes fully operational, which is expected in the coming weeks, Ðedovic Handanovic said at the Serbia-Greece business forum in Belgrade.

Serbia has also agreed supplies of up to 400 million cubic meters of gas annually from Azerbaijan until 2026, an amount that can be tripled following the expiration of the deal, Ðedovic Handanovic recalled, according to a press release from the Ministry of Mining and Energy.

As for other gas interconnections in the region, she recalled that two more new pipelines are planned, with North Macedonia and Romania, which will be completed before the start of the EXPO 2027 exhibition in Belgrade.

Apart from helping the country to diversify its gas supplies, these new interconnections will also strengthen Serbia’s position as a transit route. “With the completion of the Balkan Stream, we have become an important country in the supply of gas to countries of Central and Eastern Europe,” Ðedovic Handanovic noted.

In the next few years, Serbia will invest heavily in its energy infrastructure, and is open to discussions with anyone who is interested in participating in development projects, according to her.

Ðedovic Handanovic recalled that Serbia is also working on diversifying its oil supplies, since the sole route at the moment is the Adria oil pipeline, or JANAF.

By 2027, Serbia and Hungary will build a 128-kilometer joint oil pipeline, which will further increase the security of supply to Serbia’s refineries and market, she said, adding that the country is also considering a link with oil sources in Greece, through North Macedonia.