TurkStream to deliver gas from Azerbaijan and Romania as well?

As the European Energy Community decided that gas from another source needs to be transported by TurkStream in addition to Russian gas, Serbia has been presented with two options – gas from Azerbaijan, which should start flowing by 2020, and Romanian gas, Politika writes. The daily writes that a new liquefied gas terminal is being built in Greece, securing the supply of gas in Serbia.

All this potential competition, according to the Energy Community Secretariat, must benefit Serbian consumers as well, the director of the Secretariat, Janez Kopac, says for Politika in response to the question what the alternative to Russian gas is in the country.

When asked whether it makes sense for the Serbian-Russian company Gastrans, which is building the pipeline using its own funds, not to be allowed to be the owner of both the pipes and the energy source, Kopac says that the Third Energy Package does not allow this.

Regarding the example of Germany, which has built the NordStream 1 pipeline where 90% of the gas is Russian, indicating that the rules are not the same for Serbia, Kopac says that the Energy Community Secretariat is always guided by the same EU legal principles.

– Our primary interest is consumers' benefit in our member-states, including Serbia. Competition is always good for consumers. Russian gas is more expensive everywhere where there's no competition and that pertains to Serbia too, regardless of the good political relations between the two countries – Kopac says.

GASTRANS d.o.o. Novi Sad

Energy Community Secretariat Viena

Gastrans

Energy Community Secretariat

TurkStream

TurkStream pipeline

Energy Community

EU Third Energy Package

AERS

construction of TurkStream in Serbia

NordStream 2

Janez Kopač