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Szijjártó: Hungary and Serbia preparing for new oil pipeline construction

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A megjelenés dátuma

olajvezeték / oil pipeline
A cikk meghallgatása

Hungary and Serbia are preparing for the construction of a new oil pipeline in order to strengthen energy security. Negotiations are underway for the investment, which is expected to be signed in June, according to a statement by Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó, after talks with Serbia’s Minister of Mining and Energy, Dubravka Đedović in Budapest. Both ministers confirmed that a joint session of the two governments will take place in June, where further contracts will be signed.

Serbia should develop, Europe should pay!

During the press conference held on Thursday, Szijjártó highlighted that there will be 60 billion cubic meters less of Russian gas available on the European market than last year, due to the increased demand resulting from the reopening of the Chinese economy, and LNG capacities have not yet been built to replace the lost quantity.

-We, Hungarians, still consider energy security as a physical rather than ideological issue, and therefore we will certainly not give up well-functioning, established, reliable sources

emphasized the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who highlighted that “strategic energy cooperation between the two countries is one guarantee that Hungary’s supply will remain secure in the coming period.”

Szijjártó reported that Hungary receives 9-15 million cubic meters of gas per day from Serbia, which is considered a reliable transit country, via the TurkStream pipeline, and the neighboring country could also be one of the possible routes for quantities to be purchased from Azerbaijan. 

Therefore, Hungary is interested in the development of Serbia’s internal network, considers it a European issue, and expects the European Union to finance all infrastructure developments in the region that enable Central Europe’s access to alternative sources. 

The Hungarian minister also announced that a framework agreement had been reached for Hungary to store 500 million cubic meters of gas for Serbia in domestic storage facilities this year.

A joint venture and a new oil pipeline

Szijjártó also stated that MVM and Srbijagas would soon establish a joint venture that engages in common natural gas trading activities, thereby strengthening the two countries’ presence in the Central European energy market.

The minister subsequently announced that Hungary and Serbia are preparing to build a new oil pipeline between Algyő and Novi Sad, which will contribute to the improvement of the energy security of both states. As he stated, talks about the investment are ongoing between Mol and Transnafta.

According to Szijjártó, the agreement on this matter can be signed at the Serbian- Hungarian government summit planned for June.

The Hungarian minister welcomed the progress in the construction of the new cross-border electricity transmission line, which will result in a doubling of transport capacity and is expected to be completed by 2028. The next task is to designate the cross-border point. 

– This will strengthen our independence from the sometimes completely insane changes in the international electricity market”

– said Szijjártó, who believes that Serbian- Hungarian energy cooperation provides great security for both parties. He added that “this is one of the most successful areas of Serbian- Hungarian strategic partnership, which has clearly yielded many important results so far.”


Serbia is going green with energy

On April 5, Serbia’s largest solar power plant, with a capacity of 9.9 megawatts, was commissioned near Lapovo.

The power plant, which covers 12.5 hectares, has an annual capacity of 15,000 megawatt-hours, which is enough to power around 2,100 households. 

The “DeLsol” power plant, built by Mt- Komex, was opened by Dubravka Đedović, who called it a state task to create the conditions for the construction of power plants operating on renewable energy sources.

Đedović recently stated that Serbia aims to achieve carbon neutrality for its economy by 2050.

Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy held talks with József Magyar, Hungary’s ambassador to Serbia at the end of March on the energy cooperation between the two countries, particularly focusing on increasing gas and electricity supply security. 


Azeri gas from a Russian pipe

After the meeting, Dubravka Đedović, the Serbian Minister of Energy, naturally also spoke, beginning with the “respect” due to the excellent partnership between Serbia and Hungary, thanks to the personal relationship between the Serbian president and the Hungarian prime minister.

The Serbian Energy Minister noted that they would like to make the cooperation more concrete, especially in the areas of natural gas and oil, but also in the field of electricity supply.


Mild winter and surplus electricity

– Since the beginning of the year, the Serbian power industry has been ready to export 500-1000 megawatts of electricity at any moment.

– said Miroslav Tomašević, acting director of EPS, adding that electricity production in Serbia was 17 percent higher in the first three months of this year than in the same period last year.

Tomašević added that his company earned four million euros in electricity sales in the first four days of April, and the Serbian power industry could become the region’s leading electricity exporter.


Đedović said they are exploring the possibility of Serbia and Hungary obtaining additional gas from alternative sources via the Balkan (Turkish) Stream, for which this route would be suitable. 

The Serbian Minister also mentioned that Serbia is making good progress on the Serbian- Bulgarian interconnector, with 40 percent of the work already completed on Serbian territory.

The Belgrade official added that the work should be completed by the end of October, and negotiations with Azerbaijan on procuring Azeri gas are already underway since the work seems to be progressing well on the Bulgarian side as well.

Đedović also spoke about how important Hungary is as a partner for Serbia in the field of electricity supply, with electricity trade between the two countries valued at €77 million in 2022.

The meeting also discussed Hungary’s participation in a regional electricity exchange, which currently operates between Serbia and Slovenia, allowing for daily electricity trading.

A BALK Hírlevele


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