Minister: Additional Gas Shipments from Azerbaijan Arranged

BETAPHOTO/MINISTRY OF MINING AND ENERGY OF SERBIA/Ana Paunkovic

Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Sep. 12 that gas storage facilities in Serbia and those being used in Hungary were well filled, as well as that the delivery of additional quantities from Azerbaijan had been arranged.

"In November we will have 750 million cubic meters of gas in Banatski Dvor and 163 million in Hungary. We have secured additional quantities from Azerbaijan, which we will draw from as needed, and we will officially announce the deal soon,"  the minister said during a tour of Srbijagas' seat in Novi Sad in the company of Srbijagas director Dusan Bajatovic and Gastrans director Alexei Alexeyev, the ministry said.

Commenting on the expansion of the Banatski Dvor underground storage facility, the minister said that it was in Serbia's strategic interest to have gas storage facilities in its territory. "I expect that we will have the capacity to store 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas in Banatski Dvor by the end of 2026 which will crucially contribute to energy security and stability over the next 25 years," she said.

Srbijagas director Dusan Bajatovic stressed that the Banatski Dvor expansion project was unfolding at the planned pace, that the required equipment had been defined and ordered and a construction permit obtained.