Gas interconnector to North Macedonia not before 2028 after all – Serbia completes all steps necessary to connect to EU electricity market

The construction and commissioning of the gas interconnector between Serbia and North Macedonia will not be completed before 2028, although Srbijagas Director Dusan Bajatovic recently indicated that it could be completed during 2027, or by the end of that year.

Namely, during a meeting she had yesterday with Minister of Energy and Environment of Greece Stavros Papastavrou, Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said that work on the construction of the Serbia - North Macedonia gas interconnection would begin in 2026, and that it would be operational in early 2028.

– The planned capacity of the gas interconnection with North Macedonia, which continues to Greece, will be around 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas. In this way, we will get another supply route through which gas can reach Serbia from various sources, including the TANAP gas pipeline and LNG terminals in Greece – she explained.

The goal, as she emphasized, is for Serbia to have more options for gas supply and greater energy security, and for this it is crucial that we are interconnected in the region, that we work in a coordinated manner and regularly exchange information in order to build the infrastructure we need as soon as possible.

The ministers agreed that it was necessary to strengthen cooperation and coordination between the four countries - Serbia, Greece, North Macedonia and Bulgaria - in the energy sector in order to achieve greater security of supply in the region.

Djedovic Handanovic pointed out that Srbijagas had reserved 300 million cubic meters of gas in the Greek LNG terminal Alexandroupolis for a period of 10 years, and that it was authorized to operate in Greece.

She underlined that Serbia had completed all the steps that were important for connecting to the EU electricity market and that the verification process was underway before the European institutions that needed to confirm it. Serbia will be the first country to connect to the EU electricity market, although it is not a member state, the minister pointed out and explained that the country would connect with Hungary first, with the expectation that the EU would complete the verification process as soon as possible, for which the support of Greece was also important.

Market integration is important for security of supply, Djedovic Handanovic pointed out and added that Serbia would increase the security of the region when it had an integrated market, which was certainly in the interest of all EU members in the country’s environment.

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

Ministry of Mining and Energy

Stavros Papastavrou

Dubravka Đedović Handanović

gas interconnection Serbia North Macedonia

EU electricity market