Serbia-Bulgaria interconnector huge contribution to European energy security – Azerbaijani leader Caliber.Az infographic

Azerbaijani, Serbian, and Bulgarian Presidents Ilham Aliyev, Aleksandar Vučić, and Rumen Radev respectively inaugurated the Serbia-Bulgaria Gas Interconnector in the Serbian city of Niš on December 10.

Addressing the opening ceremony, the Azerbaijani president underscored the rapid and dynamic development of the Serbian-Azerbaijani relations and attributed the declaration on strategic partnership to the promotion of the relations.

Serbia will start importing Azerbaijani gas in 2024, the Azerbaijani president told the event, stressing that the operation of the interconnector will greatly contribute to the industrial development of Serbia.

“We currently export our natural gas to eight countries, and Serbia is the ninth. Seven of these nine countries are European, and, of course, today's ceremony, the launch of the interconnector - will make an important contribution to European energy security.”

The Azerbaijani president added that the Memorandum of Understanding on strategic partnership in the field of energy was signed between the EU and Azerbaijan in 2022, and this memorandum is being implemented. Under this memorandum, Azerbaijan is expected to double the volume of gas sent to Europe by 2027. In 2021, our gas exports to Europe were slightly more than 8 billion cubic meters and this year they will reach about 12 billion cubic meters. This accounts for 50 percent of Azerbaijan's total gas exports, the president added.

The Azerbaijani president also highlighted the importance of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC).

The SGC, a huge infrastructure project with a length of 3,500 kilometers, makes a huge contribution to European energy security. It is no coincidence that the European Commission and its senior officials value Azerbaijan as a reliable partner and pan-European gas supplier,” the president said, adding that gas supplies to Bulgaria started two years ago. In 2021, 270 million cubic meters of gas were supplied. A little more than 500 million cubic meters were supplied last year. This year, this number will be close to 1 billion cubic meters.

In remarks about Azerbaijan’s future plans, the president said Azerbaijan is to expand the geography of gas supplies further and access the markets of new countries through new interconnectors in Europe.

“Our main goal is associated with renewable energy, as Azerbaijan has signed agreements and memoranda of understanding with investors to establish 10 gigawatts of renewable energy,” the president said.