By Eurasia Business News – January 2, 2021

View on a gas pipeline – Photo credit : Pixabay

On January 1st Serbia began receiving Russian gas through the Turkish Stream gas pipeline through the Black Sea, Turkey and Bulgaria.

The Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that Serbia can save more than $ 70 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas thanks to his pipeline :

“Serbia has become richer after the gas was connected. The price for 1 thousand cubic meters will be $ 155 at the entrance from Bulgaria, plus from $ 12 to $ 14 transportation costs in our network, previously it was $ 240 […].”

Earlier, Russian gas was supplied to Serbia through Ukraine and Hungary.

Gas pumping began through the Kireevo / Zaicar gas delivery and arrival point on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. The start of the supplies was launched by the Serbian President , who said during a press conference on December 15 that : “Serbia does not see an alternative to the supply of Russian gas to the country […].”

Gas supplies to Serbia amount to 6 million cubic meters per day.

The Turkish Stream gas pipeline, which carries Russian gas from Krasnodar region across the Black Sea to Turkey and further to southern Europe, went into operation in January 2020. The ceremony took place in Istanbul.

Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece and Macedonia were the first countries to receive Russian gas via this new pipeline.

The pipeline is about 1,100 kilometers long and consists of two lines with a total capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

The first line is for gas supplies to Turkish consumers while the second line is for gas supply to the countries of Southern and Southeast Europe. (15.75 billion cubic meters each line)

The construction of “Balkan Stream”, the 474-kilometer section through Bulgaria to Serbia was delayed for a year due to ships between builders, a pandemic.

Later, the gas of the Turkish Stream through Serbia should reach Hungary and then to Austria. With this pipeline Belgrade receives energy supplies and tax revenues.

Serbia bought 2.135 billion cubic meters from Gazprom of gas in 2019. For 10 months of 2020, the purchase decreased by 41% – to 960 million cubic meters, mostly due to the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

In December 2014, Gazprom and Botas Petroleum Pipeline Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the construction of a gas pipeline across the Black Sea towards Turkey. Two years later, the Russian Gazprom received the first permits from the authorities of the Turkish Republic for the implementation of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, in September 2016. The next month, a bilateral agreement was signed between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey on the Turkish Stream project. In May 2017, the construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline started in the Black Sea. The work started off the Russian coast, in the Krasnodar region. The laying work of the gas pipeline on the Black Sea shelf was completed in November 2018. Gas supplies started in January 2020.

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