Bulgaria not rushing to complete TurkStream – Construction of gas pipeline to Greece starts

The Ministry of Construction has issued building permits for sections 2 and 3 of the TurkStream gas pipeline through Serbia, from Velika Plana to Kovin and from Kovin to Zabalj. Positive reviews have also been obtained from the competent commission for sections 1, 2 and 3. Building permits for all three sections have also been issued, and the works on sections 2 and 3 have been registered.

The plan is for around 50,000 tons of pipes to be delivered by December. Each one weighs 5,270 kilograms and is 12 meters long. From Bulgaria, the gas pipeline will enter Serbia at Zajecar and then enter Hungary at Horgos.

Bulgaria should start the construction in June. However, the country's priority at the moment is the gas connection to Greece for delivering gas from Azerbaijan. The works were recently made official. This gas pipeline is 182 kilometers long and should become operational in late May 2020.

The price of this interconnection is EUR 220 million, and the projected capacity is between three and five billion cubic meters of gas a year.

– Serbia and North Macedonia are not on this map, and they can count on certain amounts of gas only after 2030, when the capacity increases, but only if gas is available – Srecko Djukic, an expert in the matter, told Politika.

He added that no one is in a rush when it comes to TurkStream, as Russia's priority is to complete NordStream 2, which is twice as large as TurkStream.

Ministarstvo građevinarstva, saobraćaja i infrastrukture Republike Srbije

Srećko Đukić

permits for TurkStream sections

TurkStream gas pipeline

gas pipeline pipes

gas pipeline from Bulgaria to Hungary

gas interconnection with Greece

gas from Azerbaijan

NordStream 2