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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

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Construction of gas pipeline between Serbia and Bulgaria to begin this year

Nis, 10 April 2006

Serbian Minister of Energy and Mining Radomir Naumov said today that construction works on the gas pipeline from Bulgaria to Nis will begin this year. The project is worth nearly $60 million. He expressed his expectation that the works will be finished in 22 months.

During a visit to Nis, where Naumov visited the working zone Sever and the Nis Airport “Constantine The Great” and the city heating plant, he said that agreement has been reached with Bulgarian representatives that the construction of the gas pipeline between Serbia and Bulgaria begins simultaneously on both sides.

He said that the construction of the gas pipeline from Bulgaria to Nis and the continuation of construction of gas pipelines towards Leskovac, Kosovo-Metohija, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina, will make Nis the “gas supply centre” of Southeastern Europe.

The construction of this gas pipeline is necessary for fulfilling the gasification plan for 400,000 households south of Sava and Danube, said the Minister. He added that this gas pipeline will be a key facility after the underground gas storage facility in Banatski Dvor.

Naumov said that this year the construction of a high voltage power transmission line from Nis towards Skopje will begin. The project is worth more than €20 million, and works will be finished by 2008.

Naumov said that in this way Nis will also become the energy centre of Serbia. He pointed out that the signing of a new agreement with the German financial organisation KFW, conditions have been created for realising the third phase of modernising district heating in larger cities in Serbia, including Nis.

Serbian Assistant Minister of Energy and Mining Milutin Prodanovic said at a press conference held in Nis, that Serbia is ready to begin the construction of the gas pipeline from Nis to Dimtrovgrad and that the Bulgarian side has confirmed that it will build the 80 kilometers long network from Dimitrovgrad to Dupnica.

He said that the European Union originally planned that the Nis-Dimitrovgrad gas pipeline should secure four billion cubic meters of gas annually, so that Southern Serbia, Kosovo-Metohija and parts of eastern and western Serbia are supplied with gas.

Following irregularities in gas supply to Europe during last winter however, the EU changed its plan in favour of Serbia and is interested in securing more than 25 billion cubic meters of gas annually and establishing a connection towards Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, said Prodanovic.

Apart from Naumov and Prodanovic, assistant ministers of energy and mining Vladan Karamarkovic and Aleksandar Vlajcic also visited Nis. They were accompanied by General Director of Serbian Electric Power Industry (EPS) Vladimir Djordjevic and General Director of Serbian Electric Power Network (EMS) Dragan Vignjevic.

They talked with Nisava district head Milan Lapcevic, Nis Mayor Smiljko Kostic and presidents of the municipalities of the Nis district, about the construction of electric energy infrastructure.