A new gas pipeline opened today makes Serbia less dependent on Russian natural gas. The 170 kilometer pipeline runs from the Serbian city of Niš to the outskirts of the Bulgarian capital Sofia and has an annual capacity of 1.8 billion cubic meters. That accounts for 60 percent of Serbia’s gas needs.
Thanks to the new connection, Serbia can import gas from Greece and Azerbaijan. Thanks to the pipeline, Bulgaria can in turn import gas from Western Europe or via the Adriatic Sea. The European Commission has provided a subsidy for the project. Construction of the pipeline began in February.
The opening ceremony in Niš was attended by the presidents of Serbia, Bulgaria and Azerbaijan. Serbia signed an agreement in November to buy 400 million cubic meters of gas annually from Azerbaijan from 2024. Due to the war in Ukraine, countries in the Balkans are looking at their energy security.
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