Serbia to import gas, electricity from Azerbaijan, get oil via Croatia

Serbia plans to start importing natural gas and electricity from Azerbaijan next year, while crude oil will continue to be supplied via Croatia.

A Serbian delegation led by President Aleksandar Vučić and including ministers of energy and finance Dubravka Đedović and Siniša Mali has visited Azerbaijan, where they discussed economic cooperation, including energy, with top officials and representatives of the country’s companies.

After meeting President Ilham Aliyev in Baku, Vučić said they discussed the improvement of relations that would enable Serbia to be supplied with electricity from Azerbaijan. It will be delivered from Azerbaijan to Romania and Hungary via a planned cable under the Black Sea.

The agreement on establishing the interconnection was signed a few days ago by the representatives of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Hungary and Romania.

Aliyev: Steps will be taken to ensure that electricity reaches Serbia

Vučić revealed that he and his counterpart discussed how Serbia can get natural gas from Azerbaijan after the gas interconnectors Serbia-Bulgaria and Serbia – North Macedonia are finished.

President Aliyev said energy is a part of the bilateral cooperation agenda and added that his country exports gas and electricity to Europe, including to some of Serbia’s neighbors.

Steps will be taken so that electricity from Azerbaijan can reach Serbia from the beginning of next year, Aliyev announced, adding that the two countries are strategic partners.

Đedović: Serbia can meet a third of its gas needs from Azerbaijan

According to Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović, Serbia can cover a third of its gas consumption with supplies from Azerbaijan.

Combined with the possible construction of new gas plants, it means additional security and independence in electricity production, she said after meetings with Azerbaijani officials.

Đedović spoke to the president of power utility Azerenerji Baba Rzayev, Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov, Minister of Economy Mihail Jabarov and representatives of oil and gas company SOCAR.

Serbia did not import electricity in December

The minister said the gas pipeline with Bulgaria would be completed next year and that it would allow Serbia to become a part of the Southern Gas Corridor. It will, in her words, enhance the country’s security of supply.

When it comes to importing electricity, Đedović asserted that they discussed how to ensure the transmission of electricity via Bulgaria and Turkey to Serbia. The plan is to enable it for next winter, she said.

The submarine cable will also be of great importance for Serbia, Đedović added.

Mali: Investors in Serbia are looking for a supply of green energy

Siniša Mali said the construction of a new gas power plant in Serbia would be discussed over the coming weeks.

In Serbia, a large number of investors demand the electricity that they consume to be from renewables, so the topic is also on the agenda of the talks with Azerbaijan, he stressed.

JANAF: NIS will import oil through Croatia for the next two years as well

Serbian oil and gas company Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS), majority owned by Russia’s Gazprom, has decided to continue importing crude oil over the next two years through the Croatian pipeline managed by the company Jadranski Naftovod (JANAF).

It is the standard supply route for NIS, but due to the European Union’s sanctions, Russian oil cannot be supplied anymore via the Croatian oil pipeline. Of note, most of the oil imported by NIS through JANAF was not from Russia.

JANAF announced that it concluded a contract with NIS on the transportation of crude oil until the end of 2024.

According to the deal, NIS reserved the transport capacities in the amount of 6.2 million tons, JANAF added.