November 15 (SeeNews) - Serbia will import up to 400 million cubic metres (mcm) of natural gas from Azerbaijan by the end of 2024 under a contract between state-owned natural gas importer and distributor Srbijagas and Azerbaijan's state-owned oil and gas company Socar, the Serbian government said on Wednesday.
The contract was signed by Serbian energy minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic during a visit to Baku, the government said in a press release.
She also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Azerbaijan's energy ministry under which Serbia will import up to 400 mcm of natural gas per year until the end of 2026 and one billion cubic metres of gas per year after 2026.
The conditions for introducing this new source of gas supply will be met with the completion of the gas link between Serbia and Bulgaria, which is expected in the coming days, the Serbian energy minister said.
She added that the MoU opens up other opportunities for cooperation between the two countries, mainly regarding the delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) via terminals in Turkey and Greece, as well as potential cooperation in the development of capacities for the construction of gas-fired power plants and gas storage facilities.
"The memorandum and contract signed today allow us to rely on larger quantities of gas and more suppliers, which will bring us greater security in the supply of our citizens and the economy, and after the completion of the gas interconnector to Bulgaria, we are also planning new interconnections, primarily to North Macedonia," Djedovic Handanovic said.
She pointed out that all projections indicate Serbia's needs for natural gas will grow during this decade, with annual consumption expected to increase from around three billion cubic metres in 2022 to around four billion cubic meters by 2030.
Azerbaijan's energy minister, Parviz Shahbazov, said that with the signing of the two agreements the number of countries that will be supplied with Azeri natural gas has increased to eight, according to the press release.