{"id":29689,"date":"2021-03-05T12:38:58","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T10:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/?p=29689"},"modified":"2021-08-17T11:26:57","modified_gmt":"2021-08-17T09:26:57","slug":"turkstream-natural-gas-has-arrived-but-coal-isnt-going-anywhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/turkstream-natural-gas-has-arrived-but-coal-isnt-going-anywhere\/","title":{"rendered":"TurkStream: Natural Gas Has Arrived but Coal Isn\u2019t Going Anywhere"},"content":{"rendered":"

The best New Year\u2019s present \u2013 this is how the ambassador of the Russian Federation, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko<\/strong>, described a newly opened natural gas pipeline section in Serbia on January 1, in the Vojvodina village of Gospo\u0111inci. The Serbian leg of the so-called TurkStream stretches from the Bulgarian border near Zaje\u010dar in the east, to Horgo\u0161 near Hungary in the north, and the pipeline section was built by Russia and Serbia through the mixed company Gastrans <\/em>(51% owned by Russian state company Gazprom<\/em>, 49% owned by Serbian Srbijagas<\/em>). The TurkStream section opening ceremony was also attended by several Government <\/em>ministers and Serbian President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107<\/strong>.<\/p>

\u201cThis guarantees us a more certain and more secure future,\u201d said Vu\u010di\u0107, claiming that the lower gas transportation expenses would lead to a decrease in the price of the fuel, and later added that the undertaking would pay off in 10 to 12 years.<\/p>

However, while politicians are saying that this kind of gas pipeline is cost-effective, Goran Radosavljevi\u0107<\/strong>, secretary general of the National Petroleum Committee <\/em>and vice president of the Social Democratic Party<\/em>, told the Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS) that there was still not enough information to draw that conclusion.<\/p>

Seeing as the gas in question is from Russia, like the one we already have, the price of gas probably will not change, says Radosavljevi\u0107. The price decreases when there are more suppliers of this fuel on the market which, he explains, is not the case here. The only thing we will pay less are the transportation tariffs.<\/p>

In ideal circumstances Radosavljevi\u0107 sees the possibility of Serbia becoming a transit country for gas deliveries to Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina and in that way collecting tariffs, but also the possibility of the southern and eastern parts of the country getting gas connections. However, this is all just conjecture because the government\u2019s policy regarding TurkStream is not transparent, he adds, which is why it is still unknown who the gas buyers will be, bearing in mind that at this time Serbia does not need gas beyond what it procures under current contracts.<\/p>

The competent Ministry of Mining and Energy <\/em>answered these questions from CINS. Ministry<\/em> officials say that the consumers will be the same as they have been so far and confirm that Serbia will be a country of transit for natural gas transportation. At the moment we are importing more than 85% of gas, while the inauguration of the new pipeline provides procurement from two directions.<\/p>

\u201cUp until last year, Serbia could get Russian gas only from the direction of Hungary, which meant serious problems with supply in the event of disruptions on that route.\u201d<\/p>

Energy security requires gas deliveries from different suppliers, too, the officials explain and announce new projects \u2013 the construction of a Ni\u0161\u2013Dimitrovgrad pipeline and the possibility of procuring gas from the Middle East in the future.<\/p>

However, the government has no answer yet as to whether the opening of TurkStream in Serbia will increase the use of gas, i.e. whether coal will be replaced:<\/p>

\u201cThese calculations will be done as part of the making of an integrated national climate plan and any forecast we made now would be neither objective nor adequate.\u201d<\/p>

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PIPES FOR TURKSTREAM, VOJVODINA 2019; PHOTO: BETA\/DRAGAN GOJI\u0106<\/figcaption><\/figure>

If there is no appropriate cleaner energy, natural gas in Serbia can be a good substitute for other fossil fuels, Belgrade Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy <\/em>professor Petar \u0110uki\u0107 <\/strong>told CINS.<\/p>

\u201cIf you need to replace dirty fuels such as coal and fuel oil in cities, then the easiest way to do that is with gas. You can use gas to make power plants that emit far less hazardous substances and are much more efficient than other fossil fuels,\u201d said \u0110uki\u0107. Natural gas is more stable than solar and wind energy because it can be stored, i.e. kept in reserve.<\/p>

The European Union, on the other hand, has some objections to TurkStream.<\/p>

The natural gas market and the Srbijagas <\/em>company are among the key problems in Serbian energy, judging by the European Commission\u2019s <\/em>Serbia Progress Report 2020.<\/p>

Representatives of the Energy Community Secretariat<\/em>, which implements the EU energy policy with the aim of establishing a single market, told CINS that they had launched several procedures against Serbia for violating a set of European regulations, adding that two procedures were currently under way.<\/p>

The representatives claim that the construction of the new pipeline will result in discrimination on the market, because the Russian and Serbian company will be the natural gas monopolist.<\/p>

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LAUNCH OF TURKSTREAM IN SERBIA, JANUARY 2021; PHOTO: PRESIDENCY OF SERBIA\/DIMITRIJE GOLL<\/figcaption><\/figure>

The possibility of competition on the market is to reduce dependence on one supplier and help to avoid a crisis that can be felt by the economy, the population and the state in the event of halted delivery, Petar \u0110uki\u0107 explains. He mentions the example of the 2009 gas supply crisis, when a dispute between Russia and Ukraine left certain Serbian cities and towns on the brink of freezing, and heating plants had to switch from gas to dirty fuel oil.<\/p>

Even though they do not have the power to make binding decisions where Serbia is concerned, the Energy Community <\/em>representatives said in their reply to CINS that the matter \u201cmust be resolved as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>

Goran Radosavljevi\u0107 does not see this as a good argument because, as he puts it, the EU buys gas from Russia, too:<\/p>

\u201cContinental Europe has no alternatives. (\u2026) There is currently no capacity for that quantity of any other gas to be delivered to Europe, except Russian. It does not physically exist.\u201d<\/p>

Antrfile: Problems with Srbijagas<\/h2>

The second procedure the Energy Community Secretariat <\/em>has been conducting against Serbia since August 2016 pertains to the failed unbundling of Srbijagas<\/em>. This company simultaneously transports and distributes gas, which is not in line with the EU regulations Serbia has included in its Energy Law for the purpose of establishing a fair market and competition.<\/p>\r\n

The Energy Community <\/em>officials believe that the company\u2019s unbundling has for years been hamstrung by its CEO Du\u0161an Bajatovi\u0107<\/strong>, a senior official of the Socialist Party of Serbia<\/em>, who the media say is a reliable partner of Russia. The unbundling of Srbijagas <\/em>is also one of the requisites for opening Chapter 15 (Energy) in the accession negotiations with the EU.<\/p>\r\n

Minister of Mining and Energy Zorana Mihajlovi\u0107 <\/strong>in January 2021 told Kurir TV <\/em>that the government was \u201cpumping\u201d too much money into Srbijagas <\/em>and that, as a result, the company was not profitable.<\/p>\r\n

The Ministry of Environmental Protection <\/em>did not respond to CINS\u2019 request for information on inspections in Srbijagas <\/em>in the period from 2016 to mid-2020, while the Ministry of Finance <\/em>did not provide data on whether the company had in the same period taken and used loans from international banks. Srbijagas <\/em>did not answer CINS\u2019 questions.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/h2>

Petar \u0110uki\u0107 has a different opinion:<\/p>

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter that there is no other competitor at the moment. You cannot artificially find competitors, but you can maintain conditions for those competitors to appear.\u201d<\/p>

More competitors will mean a more affordable price and a technologically more advanced offer, adds \u0110uki\u0107.<\/p>

Competition and an energy market within the Energy Community <\/em>are not just one of Serbia\u2019s formal obligations, but also the key premise for enhancing Serbia\u2019s energy efficiency and economically sustainable energy, \u0110uki\u0107 says in his paper titled Competition, Competitiveness and Sustainability of Serbian Energy.<\/p>

Coal pollution<\/strong><\/h2>

According to the 2020 Energy Balance, the document that determines the annual amount of energy and fuels, Serbia obtained the most energy from coal \u2013 67.5%, followed by oil \u2013 9.2%, natural gas 3.1%, hydropower \u2013 7.5%, biomass \u2013 11.4%, and geothermal, solar and wind energy and biogas \u2013 1.2%.<\/p>