The official authorities of Belgrade gave the go-ahead for the construction of the Serbian branch of the Turkish Stream main pipeline. This was announced by the Minister of Mining and Energy of Serbia, Alexander Antich.

“The Energy Agency of the Republic of Serbia on March 5 made the final decision and responded positively to the Gastrans statement for the construction project,” he said.

Serbian Minister also said that construction is scheduled to begin in April.

Gastrans is a Serbian-Russian enterprise that is responsible for laying a branch for transporting gas from Bulgaria to Hungary. The length of the branch will be about 470 km, almost 14 billion cubic meters of gas per year will pass through it. Deliveries in the Serbian section of the Turkish Stream should start before the beginning of May 2020.

Along with this, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic noted that the expansion of the gas transportation infrastructure is the main task of Belgrade.

“But for this to happen, gas must reach Serbia, which means that the Turkish Stream project, which was once called South Stream, will be completed,” said Dacic at a joint press conference with Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov. 17th plenary meeting of the Russian-Serbian intergovernmental commission.

Recall that the construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline from the Krasnodar Territory to the European part of Turkey began in May 2017. The total capacity of the two pipelines is 31.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year. At the same time, one thread is intended for Turkish consumers, and the second - for the countries of south-eastern Europe.

Earlier, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov called Bulgarian politicians who oppose the Turkish Stream traitors to national interests. He also said that the European Commission had tentatively approved the initiative to build the Balkan gas distribution center in the republic.

In late January, an auction for the right to build a gas pipeline section in the country ended in Bulgaria. The winner was the operator of the Bulgarian gas transmission system Bulgartransgaz, the project cost is estimated at about € 1.4 billion.

  • Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov during an official meeting in Sofia
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  • © Dmitry Astakhov

“Serbia is not interested in the promises of the West”

The implementation of the construction of the “Turkish Stream” branch will be a good support for the Serbian economy, said Igor Yushkov, a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Foundation. Along with this, he added that Belgrade will be able to count on certain discounts on gas supplies from the Russian Federation.

“For the Serbs, this is an increase in the possibility of gas supply, because the gas will flow along a new branch and, accordingly, will come to Serbia from Bulgaria. Plus, these are transit revenues, because Gazprom will pay Serbia for gas transit, while now Serbia is not a transit country. At one time, due to Bulgaria, an even greater profit was missed when the South Stream was to be implemented. But now, too, good money, so the Serbs with two hands "for". Plus, they will be able to come to an agreement with Gazprom on the gasification of Serbia itself, ”the expert emphasized.

He also urged not to forget that there would be pressure from those who are “dissatisfied” with this project, primarily the United States of America.

“We remember how they killed South Stream.” Great pressure will be on Bulgaria, because it is the first in the pipeline, the Serbs are constantly under pressure from the United States and Brussels. But the example with Bulgaria showed that if you refuse Russian gas, you will not be given anything in return, and the threats will remain on paper. Either you get a reliable gas supply system and money for transit, or you stay with threats or gingerbread, which only promise, ”the source said.

The director of the National Energy Institute, Sergei Pravosudov, also stressed that the United States no longer hide their pressure on energy projects "from Russia to Europe."

“The final point will be set when the gas pipeline is built and running. Resolution is good, better when it is, than when it is not. However, Bulgaria and Serbia also gave permission to South Stream, but when it came to real construction, it never began. In terms of benefits for Serbia, this is an increase in the number of jobs, taxes, ”he stressed in an interview with RT.