Serbia and Hungary will jointly build a power interconnector and procure electricity together to be able to buy it under better terms and conditions, Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali said on Wednesday in Budapest after reaching an agreement on this with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto.

“Building an interconnector between two transmission grids was a topic as well, and we agreed we should start building one as soon as possible. I expect that we will define the details regarding the amount of funding and investment dynamics over the next few days and begin implementation immediately,” Mali said in a statement to Tanjug.

Under the agreement, Serbia and Hungary will be able to send surplus electricity to each other as needed, he explained.

He said that, due to the global energy crisis, the meeting with Szijjarto had also addressed a need for the Serbian electric power company EPS to cooperate much more with its Hungarian equivalent MVM, as well as joint electricity procurements in the international market and investments such as the construction of the Bistrica reversible hydropower plant.

He added that further investments into renewable energy sources had been discussed as well and would be a topic of a separate meeting.

“I expect MVM delegations to come to Belgrade as early as next week, when we will go through all those projects in detail to fund them jointly and ensure coordination between the two neighbouring countries,” Mali noted.

Speaking about an agreement allowing Serbia to store 500 cubic m of natural gas in Hungary next winter, Mali said:

“We will buy and store gas in Hungary to ensure secure gas supplies during the winter and, as early as by end-June, we will start filling two storage facilities. In October, we will be able to draw 3 mln cubic m of gas a day, 6 mln a day between November and February and 3 mln cubic m a day in March.”