Alexey Miller and Aleksandar Vucic praise successes of Russian-Serbian partnership in gas sector
RELEASE
Release
A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Aleksandar Vucic, President of the Republic of Serbia, took place in Belgrade today.
The parties praised the successes of the Russian-Serbian partnership in the gas sector, noting that Gazprom was a reliable supplier of gas to Serbia. The demand for Russian gas is steadily growing in the country. From January 1 through November 28, 2017, the Company exported to Serbia 1.85 billion cubic meters of gas, a 26.2 per cent increase from the same period of last year and a 6 per cent rise from the total deliveries for 2016.
The meeting also addressed the options for the development of the gas transmission system of southeastern Europe with the aim of providing reliable supplies of Russian gas to European consumers, including those in Serbia. Alexey Miller briefed Aleksandar Vucic on the progress of the TurkStream project. It was highlighted that construction was going according to schedule, with works currently underway in the exclusive economic zone of Turkey. As of today, 30 per cent (555 kilometers) of the pipeline’s two strings in the offshore section are already laid in the Black Sea.
Background
Gazprom’s main partner in Serbia is Srbijagas, a state-owned company focused on gas transportation, storage and distribution in Serbia.
In 2013, a contract was inked for Russian gas supplies to Serbia for the period of 10 years. In 2016, Gazprom exported to Serbia 1.75 billion cubic meters of gas, a 4.3 per cent increase from 2015.
On June 27, 2017, Gazprom and the Serbian Ministry of Mining and Energy inked a roadmap. The document provides for a number of measures to implement a plan aimed at expanding the Serbian gas transmission system.
TurkStream is the project for a gas pipeline stretching across the Black Sea from Russia to Turkey and further to Turkey's border with neighboring countries. The first string of the gas pipeline is intended for Turkish consumers, while the second string will deliver gas to southern and southeastern Europe. Each string will have the throughput capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Construction of TurkStream’s offshore section commenced on May 7, 2017.