Minister Mihajlovic: SGC allowed delivering Azerbaijani gas to Europe

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the most important natural gas transportation systems, which has enabled the supply of European countries with gas from Azerbaijan on the pipeline route, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia and the Minister of Mining and Energy, Prof. Dr. Zorana Mihajlovic told Report.

The development of the SGC has contributed not only to raising the level of security of supply of European countries but also to connecting the existing gas pipeline systems in southern and southeastern Europe (by building appropriate interconnectors), in order to enable natural gas supply from this direction, she said.

“At the upcoming eighth meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council, the Council will address the role of natural gas in the energy transition in the light of new EU directives, as well as the ways and challenges in the transition to a low-carbon economy,” the Serbian minister added, noting that the Advisory Council made it possible to support the development of the Southern Gas Corridor at the multilateral level and to find adequate solutions for its implementation through close cooperation between the member states.

The realization of the project of building a gas interconnection with Bulgaria, which will connect Serbia with the Southern Gas Corridor is on the way: “Our plans also include connecting to all gas pipeline systems in the neighborhood.”

“For countries that are not rich in natural gas, diversification of routes and sources of supply is a need and a strategic interest in order to increase their energy security. The Republic of Serbia is actively working to achieve this goal. With the commissioning of the transport pipeline "Balkan Stream" in 2020, the supply of the Republic of Serbia and Hungary from the direction of Bulgaria began, which is an additional direction of natural gas supply,” noted Minister Mihajlovic.

The eighth meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council will take place on February 4 in Baku. As in previous years, all companies participating in the Southern Gas Corridor are expected to participate, including SOCAR, BP, TPAO and others, as well as representatives of countries such as Turkey, Georgia, Bulgaria, Italy, the UK, the US, Greece and Albania. Among potential participants are Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia. The arrival of representatives from other countries is not excluded.

The SGC, which includes the development of the Shah Deniz field and a gas pipeline chain originating in Azerbaijan and stretching to southern Italy, was created with the aim of diversifying natural gas supplies to the EU and reducing the number of EU countries with a single source of supply. The last European section of the SGC, the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which began commercial deliveries on December 31, 2020, has allowed the supply of Caspian gas to Greece, Bulgaria and southern Italy.