Gas Flows Through Balkan Stream Temporarily Stopped Due to Malfunction in Bulgaria – Novi Sad Left Without Heating, Serbia Intervenes with Import of 5 Million Cubic Meters from Hungary

The flow of gas to Serbia, Romania and Hungary by the TurkStream gas pipeline has been temporarily stopped due to the bursting of a pipe on the Vetrino-Hrabrovo section in Bulgaria, announced Bulgarian gas pipeline operator Bulgartransgaz in an urgent notice on its website.

Due to the malfunction on the gas pipeline in Bulgaria, Srbijagas has intervened by importing five million cubic meters of gas from Hungary, the director of Srbijagas, Dusan Bajatovic, said today.

– Along with what we can produce at Banatski Dvor, we will bring the system fully back to the parameters that are normal for the operation of the system for all consumers, both the households and the industry – Bajatovic said.

He added that Srbijagas would be able to intervene the next day, if necessary, since precise information about when the repair is to be completed is not yet available.

The malfunction has led to a halt in gas flows to the Novi Sad Heating Plants, which caused the heating supply and the preparation of consumer heated water to be stopped from 6 AM this morning, the company announced today.

Following the normalization of the deliveries by Srbijagas and the stabilization of the technical systems of the heating plants, the press release says, the usual operating regime will be re-established.

Radio Bulgaria reports that, on November 1, at 3 AM, a pipe burst on the old part of the Bulgartransgaz gas pipeline in the village of Vetrino to Romania.

The transport of natural gas to Romania was automatically stopped at 3.15 AM, and the flows toward Serbia and Hungary were stopped at 7 AM, the announcement said.

It is added that, sometime after 8 AM, the transit to Romania was partially recovered and that the teams for emergency situations of the company were on site in order to repair the damaged part of the gas pipeline as soon as possible.

No one was injured at the location of the incident, nor was material damage done to third parties, Bulgartransgaz announced.

JP Srbijagas Novi Sad

JKP Novosadska toplana Novi Sad

Srbijagas

Bulgartransgaz

Novi Sad Heating Plants

Dušan Bajatović

Turk Stream

Balkan Stream

Vetrino

Hrabrovo

gas pipeline

incident

gas

flow

gas flow halt

pipe bursting

importing intervention

heating