Greece's Papastavrou: Serbia and North Macedonia will participate in the Vertical Corridor with gas interconnections.

A meeting was held today in Athens involving energy ministers and officials from Serbia, Greece, North Macedonia, and Bulgaria to discuss natural gas supply. Greek Minister of Environment and Energy, Stavros Papastavrou, announced that the Vertical Corridor would be extended to North Macedonia and Serbia.

Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania have already achieved significant progress on the Vertical Corridor for gas supply to Ukraine and Moldova. This includes infrastructure upgrades, new pipelines such as the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), and commercial agreements. A similar approach is now being applied to the western Balkans with the establishment of a new branch of the Vertical Corridor.

The main focus of today's meeting was the gas interconnection projects between Greece and North Macedonia, as well as North Macedonia and Serbia. The first pipeline is currently under construction, with completion expected this year. It will facilitate natural gas supply from Greek LNG terminals in Revithoussa and Alexandroupolis, along with pipeline gas from Azerbaijan.

Serbia is set to invest EUR 1.2 billion in gas infrastructure. According to Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy, Dubravka Đedović Handanović, the link between North Macedonia and Serbia is expected to be finished by the end of 2027. Currently in the planning stage, it will extend to the southern city of Vranje, with a proposed capacity of 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually.

Serbia plans to allocate EUR 1.2 billion toward gas infrastructure and upgrading existing pipelines. North Macedonian Minister of Energy, Mining, and Mineral Resources, Sanja Božinovska, indicated that the interconnection between Greece, North Macedonia, and Serbia would be operational by the end of next year. She also mentioned that the tender for the pipeline to Serbia was initiated yesterday.

Papastavrou emphasized Greece's pivotal role in the new European energy landscape, highlighting projects that bolster supply security, geopolitical stability, and regional development. He noted the agreement to expand the Vertical Corridor with North Macedonia and Serbia and to formalize cooperation among the four nations.

Bulgaria was represented by Deputy Minister of Energy Kiril Temelkov.

The officials have arranged another meeting in September in Belgrade and anticipate future gatherings in Skopje and Sofia. Representatives of the gas and electricity transmission system operators from the four countries also participated in the meeting.