Serbia seeks access to Azerbaijani gas

Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Đedović has said that access to Azerbaijani gas is a priority for Serbia.

"When the global energy crisis broke out, many European countries, including Serbia, faced the problem of insufficiently diversified routes and suppliers. This would have been unfavourable even in the absence of the crisis. In the current conditions in Europe, this poses a serious risk to energy security, which in turn is increasingly becoming an issue of national security. Access to other gas suppliers, especially Azerbaijani gas, is a priority for us, and we are already actively working on this," Trend quotes Đedović as saying.

Đedović remarked that the delivery of natural gas from Azerbaijan to Serbia requires gas infrastructure.

"This year, Serbia started the construction of the gas interconnector with Bulgaria, which should be completed in the last quarter of next year. This will enable us to connect with the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, which brings natural gas to Greece, as early as in the first quarter of 2024, and then this energy source will reach our market through the newly opened Greece-Bulgaria interconnector," the minister added.

According to her, by connecting to the Southern Gas Corridor, Serbia will not only increase its energy security by providing an additional supply route, but it will also have the opportunity to become a transit country through which this gas will reach other countries both in the region and in Europe.

"The importance of gas deliveries to Europe via the Southern Gas Corridor will certainly increase in the coming years, as evidenced by the EU's interest in increasing gas imports from Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani gas would certainly contribute to increased energy security in Europe, and this is particularly relevant for our region, which has yet to diversify its sources of supply," Đedović added.