First Works on TurkStream in RS Announced for Early 2022

The first works on the construction of the Republika Srpska branch of the strategic gas pipeline TurkStream might begin in late 2021 or early 2022, claims the director of Gas-Res, Ljubo Glamocic.

According to him, the construction of this gas pipeline has so far been conditioned on the dynamics of the construction of the TurkStream branch through Serbia, and as Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and the director of Srbijagas, Dusan Bajatovic, announced that it might be completed by the end of the year, it will considerably accelerate the activities within the project in Srpska, he said.

– With the completion of this gas pipeline through Serbia and according to the promises of Srbijagas, Serbia will start realizing the project of the construction of one branch from the transport system of Serbia toward Srpska, that is, Bijeljina, of around 100 kilometers. According to the estimates of the Serbian authorities, that part of the job could be completed within two to three years – Glamocic.

He explains that the preliminary design of the gas pipeline route through Srpska has already been prepared and that there is one change compared to the previous one, which was related to the project of the construction of South Stream.

– This branch will now partly go along the Bijeljina-Banjaluka route, from Macvanski Prnjavor, through Bijeljina, Brcko, Vukosavlje and Samac to Doboj, Prnjavor and Banjaluka, all the way to Novi Grad. Some rough estimates say that the construction of the pipeline alone, without the auxiliary structures, could cost 180 to 200 million euros, and the capacity should be around 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas a year. The construction of the gas pipeline should be followed by the gasification of cities, and the construction of at least two gas power/heating plants in Srpska is planned as well – Glamocic explained.

He adds that the next year will be used for the preparation of the spatial-planning documentation and the solving of property relations with the owners of the parcels through which the gas pipeline is to pass.

– Of course, what remains is for us to reach an agreement about the financing of the project with representatives of Srbijagas and Gazprom, but also about the founding of a joint company that would be in charge of the construction of this gas pipeline through Srpska. Furthermore, an agreement of understanding should be signed with Srbijagas by the end of the year, but also an interstate agreement between the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Government of Serbia – Glamocic clarified.

TurkStream

TurkStream in RS

South Stream

Ljubo Glamočić