The Serbian town of Palic is hosting on Tuesday a meeting of the Strategic Council for Cooperation between Serbia and Hungary, with the top officials of the countries participating in it.
The memorandum of understanding on the construction of the oil pipeline was signed by Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto and Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic.
The countries also signed a document on the creation of a joint venture for trading gas.
Later in the day, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said his country has planned for the storage of 560 million cubic meters of gas on its territory and in Hungarian storage facilities for the winter to ensure its energy security.
"Thanks to our Hungarian friends, there are now no problems. 650 million cubic meters have been reserved in [the underground storage facility] Banatski Dvor in Serbia and Hungary, 560 million cubic meters are in the reserve at the moment. These volumes are immense for Serbia's needs and we are guaranteeing security to people this winter," Vucic said.
Russian energy giant Gazprom remains Serbia’s only natural gas supplier and a major source of pipeline gas for Hungary, an EU member state. Serbia in expected to start importing liquefied natural gas from Greece and transport it northward to Hungary in fall. Azerbaijan also plans to begin pumping gas to the Balkans before the end of the year.