March 2013, Vol. 240, No. 3

Projects

Bulgaria, Serbia Linking Up

The heads of Bulgaria and Serbia signed an agreement to put in place the first gas pipeline between Bulgaria and Serbia. The Nis-Dimitrovgrad-Sofia pipeline will contribute is particularly important given that both of them were severely affected by the 2009 gas supply disruption.

The bi-directional pipeline is critical to developing the gas market of the entire region and is part of the Energy Community Gas Ring concept promoted by the European Commission. The investment required for the 180-km pipeline, with a capacity of 1.8 Bcm/a, is estimated at 100-120 million Euro. The start of construction is scheduled for July 2014 with the first gas flowing by the end of 2015.