Baku, April 7 AZERTAC

“Interconnection with Bulgaria could give Serbia access to gas supplies from Azerbaijan via TANAP,” Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Aleksandar Antic told a meeting titled Regional Energy Prospects held in Belgrade. He said that the Serbian government would try to be part of all projects that may provide new gas supply sources and routes.

According to Minister Antic, the first priority is the connection of Serbia and Bulgaria by a two-way pipeline, with the money already earmarked in the 2015 budget for the making of a spatial plan. The minister added that there had already been talks with the Bulgarian partners about the pipeline’s capacity and that Serbia could quickly enter a stage when it would seek sources for funding the start of construction.

Srbijagas Executive Director Jovica Budimir said a feasibility study was being done for Turkish Stream and that the final route and value of the pipeline would be unveiled in May. Budimir also said that the preliminary study envisaged the new pipeline including Turkey, Greece, Macedonia and Serbia.

According to him, the length of the continental part of Turkish Stream in Turkey’s territory will be 100 kilometers, 304 in Greece, 521 in Serbia and 162 in Macedonia. Budimir went on to say that South Stream’s old route would, if built, in one part in Serbia match the route of Turkish Stream.

The aim of the TANAP Project is to bring natural gas produced from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz-2 gas field, and other areas of the Caspian Sea, primarily to Turkey, but also on to Europe. The TANAP Project, along with the South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) form the elements of the Southern Gas Corridor.