Serbia will collect around 200 million euros annually from the transit fees of the ‘South Stream’ gas pipeline, and the fact that the pipeline route partially passes through its territory will mitigate the problem of gas shortages, stated Ljubomir Aksentijević, an advisor in the Serbian Ministry of Energy, on Friday.
Speaking on the program of Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) on the occasion of the start of construction of the ‘South Stream’ gas pipeline, Aksentijević also pointed out other direct effects on Serbia and its economy. “We will gain direct economic effects. The initiation of such a large investment over 470 kilometers requires significant construction work in which companies from Serbia will certainly participate,” said Aksentijević, estimating that around 2,000 people will be engaged.
The start of construction of the gas pipeline in Serbia will symbolically begin on December 20 with the laying of the foundation stone for a compressor station in Banat, in Vojvodina. In the next three years, the first pipes will be laid, while the work on the section of the route through Serbia should be completely finished in five years.
The advisor in the Ministry of Energy assessed it as unlikely that the gas crisis of 2009, when Serbia completely ran out of gas, could be repeated, reminding that “the crisis arose due to Ukraine, not due to Russia.”
