Von der Leyen: EUR 160 Million in EU Aid to Serbia to Overcome Energy Crisis

Serbia will get EUR 160 million of direct budget aid in order to deal with the energy crisis, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in Nis.

– I believe that this is necessary so that Serbia too could help vulnerable social groups, as well as small and medium enterprises – Von der Leyen said while visiting the works on the construction of the gas interconnector between Serbia and Bulgaria with the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.

She said that the construction of this interconnector showed the connections and the great cooperation of Serbia and the EU.

The president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, thanked the EU for its financial help, as well as for the help in the construction of the gas interconnector, whose completion is expected by the end of next year.

– When somebody is giving you money and is not asking anything in return, you have to give a big thank you – Vucic said.

As envisaged by the project, the new Nis-Sofija gas pipeline will secure an additional 80% capacity increase compared to the current annual needs of Serbia, which is around 2.4 billion cubic meters of gas a year.

The gas interconnector Serbia-Bulgaria is one of Serbia’s alternatives to Russian gas.

Evropska investiciona banka EIB

JP Srbijagas Novi Sad

European Commission

Ursula von der Leyen

Aleksandar Vucic

Skopje

Tirana

energy crisis

suppressing energy crisis

energy crisis aid

gas interconnector between Serbia and Bulgaria

construction of an interconnector

Nis Sofia gas pipeline