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Bulgaria launches construction of gas link to Serbia

'Probable explosion' detected before Estonia-Finland gas pipeline leak: seismological institute
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Bulgaria launched construction on Wednesday of a long-delayed gas pipeline link to neighbouring Serbia in a bid to boost security of deliveries in the eastern Balkans after Russia invaded Ukraine.

European Union member Bulgaria has sped up several projects to diversify away from its dependence on Russian gas.

The new gas link, whose construction is partially funded by EU money, is to be completed in October.

The new interconnector will have the capacity to pump as much as 1.8 billion cubic metres of gas per year in either direction.

It will link pipeline systems to transport gas from Azerbaijan all the way to western Europe, as well as give Serbia access to liquefied natural gas through ports in Greece.

“It gives new opportunities to the region through real diversification and security of deliveries,” Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said at the launch.

His Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic said the pipeline would help “secure the energy future… for the whole region of the western Balkans and southeast Europe.”

Construction of the pipeline in Serbia is already under way since February 2022, but the war in Ukraine caused delays of pipe deliveries for the Bulgarian stretch.

The agreement for the 170-kilometre (106-mile) pipeline between the two countries’ gas transportation networks was signed back in 2012.

Both Bulgaria and Serbia were among the hardest hit by a price row between Russia and Ukraine in the winter of 2009 that cut deliveries to Europe.

Construction was, however, postponed for over a decade as Russian gas shipments were restored.

Bulgaria remained almost totally dependent on Russia for its annual gas needs of about three billion cubic metres up until Moscow cut it off completely in April 2022 as Sofia refused to pay for its gas in rubles after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Since then, Bulgaria has already moved to receive pipeline gas shipments from Azerbaijan on a new link from Greece and liquefied natural gas from European and US suppliers through terminals in Greece and Turkey.

Serbia, on the other hand, has maintained its friendly ties with Moscow.

Belgrade inked a new three-year contract with the Russian giant Gazprom last year, drawing a rebuke from Brussels as the EU tries to reduce its energy dependence on Russia.

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AFP

Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency.







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