Minister: Construction of Serbia-Hungary Oil Pipeline to Begin as Soon as Next Year

Serbia has started the preparations for the construction of the Serbia-Hungary oil pipeline in the sense of the preparation of the spatial plan, the strategic environmental impact assessment and the necessary technical documentation, and the aim is for the works to start as soon as next year, so that the oil pipeline, 128 kilometers, would be completed by 2027, stated the minister of the mining and energy of Serbia, Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic, yesterday.

Talking to the minister of foreign affairs and trade of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto, about joint projects in the energy sector, she specified that the value of the investment had been estimated at close to EUR 150 million.

– The capacity will be close to five million tons of oil a year – the minister said and added that both sides agreed that it was necessary to act fast and in a harmonized manner.

She pointed out that the Serbia-Hungary oil pipeline had been marked as one of the priority projects in the energy sector for both states and added that the members of the work group from Transnafta and the Hungarian MOL had discussed it that day in Budapest.

The minister added that supply with energy sources was stable and that, in addition to domestic reserves, at that moment, Serbia also had reserves of 163 million cubic meters in storage facilities in Hungary.

She said that, during the conversation, there had been talk about the dynamics of the use of the existing supplies and the conditions for securing an additional quantity of gas, which would contribute to a greater security in the next winter as well.

Djedovic Handanovic reminded that the two countries were also building the Pannonian Corridor together, whereby the capacities for the transfer of electrical energy between Serbia and Hungary would double.

– The investment in the Pannonian Corridor is worth over EUR 100 million and the aim is to complete it in the next four years, the minister said and noted that the plan was for Hungary to join the first regional electricity exchange, which Serbia had founded with Slovenia, which should be realized in the next few weeks.

Szijjarto said that the security of supply remained a priority for Hungary and announced that the country would join the regional electricity exchange, the Serbian ministry announced.

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Budapest (Mađarska)

Ministry of Mining and Energy of Serbia

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary

Transnafta

MOL

Peter Szijjarto

Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic

Serbia Hungary oil pipeline

construction of oil pipeline

Pannonian Corridor