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Serbia is interested in laying Turkish Stream pipeline through its territory

The country's Minister of Mining and Energy Aleksandar Antic said the relevant conversations "are one of the most important"

BELGRADE, January 17. /TASS/. Serbia needs bigger volumes of gas and is interested in laying part of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline through its territory, Minister of Mining and Energy of Serbia Aleksandar Antic told reporters.

"Conversations on the construction of a part of the gas pipeline for Serbia are on the agenda and, without doubt, they are one of the most important. Serbia is extremely interested in building this part of the gas pipeline. I think we are very close to this," said Antic, stressing that "Serbia, the neighboring countries, European countries have a great need for new gas."

Earlier Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that the country does not intend to abandon Russian gas in favor of more expensive liquefied gas to please the West.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is on an official visit to Serbia on Thursday.

Earlier, presidential aide Yury Ushakov said that following the talks between Putin and Vucic an agreement on energy cooperation will be signed. According to a Kremlin spokesman, "one solution is being prepared for the reconstruction and modernization of an underground gas storage facility." He added that the presidents were to discuss the extension of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline to Serbia. However, nothing will be signed in this regard so far, he added.

The Turkish Stream project envisages the construction of a gas pipeline across the Black Sea to the European part of Turkey and farther to the border with Greece. Gas deliveries via the first stretch of the gas pipeline are designed to meet the requirements of the growing Turkish market, while the second stretch is planned to deliver gas to the countries of Southern and South-Eastern Europe. Each thread will have a capacity of 15.75 bln cubic meters of gas a year. The project is estimated at a total of 11.4 bln euro. Gazprom considers Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary as potential markets.