The construction of a gas interconnector between Serbia and North Macedonia will soon begin, opening an additional route for gas supplies from the LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis, Greece. This was stated in a joint statement by the energy ministers of Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and North Macedonia after a regional summit in Belgrade.
“The first pipes for the Serbia-North Macedonia section of the gas interconnector have been delivered to Serbia and work on laying the pipelines will start soon“, the statement noted.
The new gas pipeline will connect to the Greece-North Macedonia interconnector, which is currently under construction. The completion of the Greek section is expected by the end of 2026, and the North Macedonian section in 2027.
The participants in the meeting welcomed the connection of Serbia and North Macedonia to the Vertical Gas Corridor through their gas transmission system operators. According to the statement, the development of the infrastructure will allow Greece to increase its gas export capacity to 9.5 billion cubic meters by 2027.
The ministers noted that additional supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) “will enhance the diversification of supplies to neighboring markets, including Serbia and North Macedonia“.
The parties also discussed the possibility of developing a Thessaloniki-Skopje-Nis pipeline, which could connect Serbia via North Macedonia to the port and energy infrastructure of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Earlier, Serbian Prime Minister Djurdjo Makut said that the country plans to diversify its sources of energy supplies in the next few years and “could easily join“ to the project “Vertical Gas Corridor“.
“Vertical Gas Corridor“ is a project aimed at creating a route for the supply of liquefied natural gas from Greece to countries in Central and Eastern Europe, including Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia and other countries. The initiative aims to provide an alternative to pipeline supplies of Russian gas to Europe after the termination of transit through Ukraine in January 2025. The project involves gas transmission network operators from Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine and Moldova.