The government of the Republic of Serbia in its session held on 03 November 2023 adopted Regulation on amendments to the Regulation on conditions of delivery and supply of natural gas, published in the Official Gazette of the RS no. 97/2023.
Amendments to the regulation allow, as an exception, that natural gas transmission/distribution system operator may take over in system or deliver from system gas that deviates from the prescribed quality and chemical composition.
In order for this deviation to be allowed, it is necessary that the system operator submits a reasoned request to the Ministry of Energy specifying the isolated parts of the system, i.e., the entry and/or exit points on the system where the quality deviation will be applied, as well as the parameters of the quality and chemical composition of the natural gas.
If the Ministry of Energy accepts the system operator's request, it will issue an act determining the quality and chemical composition of natural gas that deviates from the prescribed quality, the places in the system where such gas can be taken over in or delivered from the system, and that act will be published in the Official Gazette of the RS.
The reason for adopting this amendment to the regulation lies in preparations for greater diversification of natural gas supply sources, which will be achieved with the imminent opening of the new Serbia-Bulgaria gas interconnector. According to the statements of the Ministry of Energy, it is expected that through this interconnector, the Republic of Serbia will be supplied with natural gas from Azerbaijan, which increases the security of supply to the Republic of Serbia, and which is one of the proclaimed goals of the Energy Development Strategy of the Republic of Serbia.
This amendment to the regulation will enter into force on 11 November 2023.
By Jelena Gazivoda, Senior Partner, Nikola Djordjevic, Partner, and Marko Mrdja, Senior Associate, JPM & Partners