March 29 (SeeNews) - Serbia plans to start the construction of the pipeline for transit of natural gas from Bulgaria to Hungary on its territory next month, energy minister Aleksandar Antic has said.
There are commercial and economic reasons for the construction of the pipeline and the financing for the project has been secured, the energy ministry quoted Antic as saying in a press release on Thursday.
The largest part of the project, excluding the compressor stations, is expected to be completed by the end of this year, Antic said.
Earlier this month, Serbia's Gastrans, a subsidiary of Swiss-based South Stream Serbia, invited binding bids for booking of capacity for transit of natural gas via a planned section. The total volume of available annual capacity is 395.2 GWh/day at the link with Bulgaria,124.2 GWh/day at exit points in Serbia and 271.02 GWh/day at the interconnection with Hungary, Gastrans said.
Gastrans is 100%-owned by Swiss-based South Stream Serbia, according to data from Serbia's commercial register. Russia's Gazprom owns a 51% stake in South Stream Serbia, while state-owned Srbijagas holds the remaining 49%, according to Gazprom data.
Gazprom plans to build a string of its Turk Stream pipeline for transit of natural gas to Europe from Turkey via Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary. The future pipeline on the territory of Serbia, approximately 400 km in length, will link the Serbian natural gas transmission system to those of Bulgaria and Hungary.