Serbia has reached an agreement with Russia on expanding the volume of underground gas storage facilities from 750 million to about 2 billion cubic meters, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told the country’s media, according to RIA FAN.
“Investment in energy infrastructure” is important, Vucic said, adding that “we could have larger volumes stored than 750 million cubic meters.” “We have reached an agreement with Russians that we will have much more than 750 million cubic meters. We are aiming at 1.5 and 2 billion cubic meters, liked in Hungary which has 7 billion, so that we never have to worry again when and if gas supply is disrupted,” Vucic noted.
During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Serbia in January, the sides signed a memorandum on understanding that concerns the expansion of volumes at the Banatsky Dvor underground gas storage facility.
In 2018, Russia’s Gazprom supplied 2.15 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas to Serbia, which was a 1.2% increase from 2017.
In August, Serbian media reported that the first part of the 403-kilometer section of Gazprom’s TurkStream gas pipeline in the country territory has been completed. The section stretches from the Bulgarian border to the city of Cuprija.
The project to construct a pipeline in Serbia running from the Bulgarian border to the border with Hungary is being implemented by Gastrans, a joint venture of Russia’s gas producer Gazprom and Srbijagas. According to plans, the Serbian section of TurkStream will begin supplying natural gas before the end of April 2020.
