MOSCOW, May 3. /TASS/. North Macedonia started to purchase Azerbaijani gas on a regular basis in early 2026, which is twice as expensive as Russian gas, Moscow’s Ambassador to the Balkan nation Dmitry Zykov said in an interview with TASS.

"In November 2024, Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company SOCAR and North Macedonia’s state-owned company ESM signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at expanding cooperation in the energy sector, which provides for long-term natural gas supplies. Azerbaijani gas has been present on the Macedonian market on a regular basis since early 2026. In the first two months of the year, its share in physical supplies stood at 32%, while the share of Russian gas was 28%. Notably, Azerbaijani gas is almost twice as expensive as Russian gas," the envoy pointed out.

Zykov added that North Macedonia received gas from Azerbaijan "through the Trans-Anatolian and the Trans Adriatic pipelines, then from Greece via Bulgaria.".