Today, the Minister for Economy, Energy and
Tourism of the Republic of
Bulgaria, Traycho Traykov, and the Minister of
Mining and Energy of the
Republic of Serbia, Petar
Škundri
ć
, signed in the presence
of Director-General of DG Energy, Philip Lowe, a joint statement paving the way
for the
planned
gas interconnector project between Bulgaria and Serbia. The Joint
Statement is an
expression of the commitment of both governments to the
Serbia-Bulgaria gas pipeline. It outlines the
concrete next steps of the project
and invites the assistance of the European
Commission and the International
Financial Institutions in preparation of the
project and related studies.
“It is our
longstanding objective to connect the gas system of the Energy Community
to the European energy market.
This interconnector is the first major step in the
process. We hope that the project kicks off without
delay and we are ready to
support its preparation and implementation, also financially under the
regional
development and
enlargement programmes”,
said Günther Oettinger.
“This is a
prime example of putting our
security of supply standards into practice”.
“This gas
interconnector is part of our strategy to link with our neighbours, which also
includes interconnections with
Romania, Greece and the possibility of physical
reverse flow with Turkey. We intend to use part of
our allocation from the European
Regional Development Fund for this project since we believe this project
will
contribute greatly to
the long term development of our country. Due to our strategic
location and advantages linked
to having major gas and oil corridors passing through
the territory of the country,
Bulgaria will have a central role in the distribution of gas
to neighbouring countries in the
region”
said Traycho Traykov
when signing the
Statement. Petar
Škundri
ć
added that
“this bi-directional interconnector has always
been an integral part of the long term strategy to
develop the Serbian gas market.
Together
with the substantial underground gas storage capacities currently being
developed in Banatski Dvor, and
in the future also in Vojvodina, the project will
increase the flexibility of the gas supply. Not
only are we creating access to gas
coming from new sources such as Greek LNG and in the future through the
Southern Gas Corridor from the
Caspian region, but we also pave the way for
becoming a regional gas hub bringing gas to our
Energy Community neighbours.”
The signature
ceremony was also witnessed by Dušan Bajatovi
ć
, General Director of
Srbijagas, and Ivan Drenovichki, Executive Director
of Bulgartransgas.
This gas
pipeline starting in Nis and crossing the border near Dimitrovgrad, will be
the first interconnector between the transmission
systems of Bulgaria and Serbia. It
will
contribute to the security of gas supply of both countries as well as the
region.
The project is part of the
Energy Community Gas Ring concept promoted by the
European Commission. The investment required for this
roughly 180 kilometre long
pipeline with the
capacity of ca 2 billion cubic meters per annum is estimated at 100-
120 million Euro. The project preparation, as well
as the construction of the
infrastructure, may
benefit from European Union funds. Major European financial
institutions may also provide financing to the
project. The project is expected to enter
into
the feasibility study phase already in autumn 2010, and the first gas could
start
flowing
in 2013.