Serbia announced prospects of participating in TAP and TANAP as transit country

Baku. 30 May. REPORT.AZ/ Construction of gas interconnection with Bulgaria is a priority for Serbia in order to connect to the pipeline which will be built from Azerbaijan, said Minister of Energy and Mining Aleksandar Antic.

According to him, gas connection with Bulgaria will enable Serbia to connect to the planned pipelines TAP and TANAP and will be built in 2016. Report informs referring to energyworldmagazine. Minister said that Serbia is trying to provide all the resources for construction or most of it from European funds. He stressed that Serbia is interested in connecting to the Turkish Stream and other projects that may provide diversification of supply.

"When it comes to Turkish Stream we haven’t yet seriously talked about financing of the pipeline. Serbian goal is to participate in all gas projects which will transit through our country, and which are also in line with the EU’s third energy package. We want diversification and it is also the policy of the EU", Antic said.

He told that it is a responsible and patriotic position of the government. "You may like it or not", Antic said answering journalist question whether Serbia is turning from Russia to USA in energy sector.

Prime Minister of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic said that Serbia is ready to reduce its dependence on Russian gas and connect to US backed pipeline project from Azerbaijan.

Antic said that Serbia "plays with open cards" because it wants to ensure the diversification of sources and routes for natural gas.