Srbijagas, DEPA plan to cooperate in natural gas sector

Serbian gas company Srbijagas and Greek gas firm DEPA Commercial have signed a memorandum of cooperation covering the natural gas sector. Both are state-owned gas suppliers.

Srbijagas said its general manager Dušan Bajatović signed a memorandum of understanding with his counterpart from DEPA Commercial Konstantinos Xifaras on cooperation and the security of natural gas supply on the two national markets.

The document sets the framework for, among other areas, buying and selling, optimizing the use of transport capacities, and the possibility for Srbijagas to use the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Greece. It also covers natural gas storage and capital investments in the sector.

Serbia could use the LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis to diversify its supply

The two companies have not cooperated before, which can be explained by the fact that both countries are gas importers and not neighbors. But the supply in Southeastern Europe and many other parts of the world was disturbed on a major scale after the start of the Ukrainian-Russian war.

For start, many countries stopped buying gas from Russia even though it was their main supplier at the time.

Bulgaria, which neighbors Serbia and Greece, has stopped importing the fuel from Russia and turned to LNG terminals in Turkey for potential purchases.

Serbia still imports gas from Russia, which is its main supplier, via a pipeline going through Turkey and Bulgaria. However, the construction of another interconnection with Bulgaria is underway, which should enable the import of gas from other countries, such as Azerbaijan.

Greece is using an LNG terminal to replace imports from Russia

Greece also covered most of its gas consumption from Russia, but thanks to its Revithoussa LNG terminal it now relies on countries including the United States, Algeria and Egypt. The Balkan country is building another LNG terminal, a floating facility near the port of Alexandroupolis in the northeast. Other countries in Southeastern Europe including Serbia could use it, too.

In May last year, officials from the region including Serbia attended the start of construction. In addition, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for a gas power plant within the same complex in January of this year. DEPA Commercial is among the investors in both projects.