Gas connection between Serbia, Bulgaria "EU priority"

Gas connection between Serbia, Bulgaria "EU priority"

A special EU working group is working on the project and progress is expected to be made at the next meeting, to be held in Dubrovnik, Croatia, next month, he said.

The EU is backing the project in order to enable countries with only one gas supply route to obtain more gas connections, as well as lower gas prices, Sefcovic noted.

The project will boost energy security in the region, as well as the integration of the countries of the region, said the European Commission vice president.

Sefcovic also said on Wednesday that he expected that an agreement on gas supplies to Ukraine would be reached at a meeting between EU representatives and Russian and Ukrainian energy ministers.

"The meeting should be held at the end of June," he told reporters, and added that "the exact date of the meeting was still unknown as the agenda of the event had not been decided yet."

Sefcovic said he "hoped that the meeting would indeed take place, stressing that he and the European Commission would do everything to have the agreement reached."

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic received Sefcovic on Wednesday to say after the meeting that "Serbia should ensure itself a steady supply of gas during a period starting from 2019."

A gas supply diversification is necessary to ensure energy security in the country and it could help reduce the price of that fuel, Vucic told at a press conference.

Vucic said that Serbia was willing to use EU support and start importing gas from Arab countries instead of relying just on gas from Russia and Azerbaijan.

He "expressed his gratitude to the European Commission and the EU Delegation to Serbia for supporting Serbia’s energy sector and donating air filters to the Obrenovac-based Nikola Tesla power plant."

The prime minister said it was a help to Serbia’s objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 9.8 percent by 2030.

Vucic also said that the government "will discuss the price of electricity" and inform the public on Thursday, and that the hike "will not take place before August 1."