Source: Gazprom

Russia’s Gazprom and Serbia’s Srbijagas have signed a detailed action plan to implement South Stream in Serbia.

Alexey Miller, chairman of the Gazprom, and Dusan Bajatovic, CEO of Srbijagas, the state-owned natural gas transmission, distribution and storage company in Serbia, met to continue conversations about the Banatski Dvor underground gas storage facility in Serbia.

Gazprom and Srbijagas have progressed the Banataski Dvor UGS facility to be located in Serbia. The bulk of permits required to initiate commercial operation of the underground gas storage facility have already been received, and the rest of the permits will be obtained soon.

The Banatski Dvor UGS facility will be created within a depleted gas field located about 60 kilometers northeast of the town of Novi Sad.

In 2008, Gazprom and Srbijagas signed an MOU to cooperate in gas storage as part of the Banatski Dvor project; and in October 2009, the companies signed an agreement on setting up a joint venture for the Banatski Dvor UGS facility.

The joint venture responsible for construction and operation of the underground gas storage facility with the working gas capacity of 450 million cubic meters was registered in February 2010 with Gazprom holding 51 percent and Srbijagas holding 49 per cent.

With a view to diversify the natural gas export routes Gazprom is planning to construct a gas pipeline running under the Black Sea to the countries of Southern and Central Europe – the South Stream project. Intergovernmental agreements were signed with Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia in order to implement the onshore gas pipeline section.