The Serbian and Azerbaijani governments have signed a package of documents that include a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and a Gas Sales Agreement between their national gas companies, State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and Srbijagas, for the supply of 400 mcm/year of natural gas to Serbia starting on 2024. The deal seeks to encourage cooperation between both companies. The MoU expects to take advantage of the Interconnector Bulgaria-Serbia (the Nis-Dimitrovgrad gas interconnection pipeline) to transport Azerbaijan natural gas, a project that is scheduled to be commissioned in the near term.
To fulfil its gas needs, Serbia relies on imports from Russia through Ukraine and Hungary. In 2021, gas imports rose by 19% to 2.4 bcm, as Serbia started to receive Russian gas through the Bulgarian branch of the TurkStream gas pipeline. The share of Russia in gas imports rose from 65% in 2020 to nearly 94% in 2021.