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AzerNEWS Staff

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North Macedonia and Serbia have formally become members of the Vertical Gas Corridor, strengthening the network’s reach into the Western Balkans and broadening options for diversifying natural gas supplies in the region.

The move was formalized through a memorandum of understanding signed by regional gas transmission system operators on the sidelines of the Southeast Europe Energy Forum in Thessaloniki, according to North Macedonia’s Ministry of Energy, Mining and Mineral Resources. The corridor’s existing participants, including Greece’s DESFA, welcomed the inclusion of North Macedonia’s NOMAGAS and Serbia’s Transportgas Serbia.

Membership in the Vertical Gas Corridor is particularly important for North Macedonia as it will allow the country to integrate more closely into the regional gas infrastructure and gain access to supplies from the south, including through Greece’s gas transmission system.

North Macedonia’s Minister of Energy, Mining and Mineral Resources, Sanja Bozhinovska, said one of the key elements of this strategy is the gas interconnector being built between North Macedonia and Greece.

“By connecting to Greece’s gas system, North Macedonia will gain access to the Southern Gas Corridor and supply opportunities through the LNG terminals at Revithoussa and Alexandroupolis, opening access to a wider range of alternative natural gas sources,” she said.

North Macedonia’s accession comes as the Vertical Gas Corridor is expanding into a broader energy route designed to connect southern Europe with Central and Eastern Europe while also increasing supply options for Western Balkan countries.

Access to the Southern Gas Corridor

North Macedonia’s prospects for connecting to the Southern Gas Corridor are also of particular interest in terms of the country’s energy cooperation with Azerbaijan.

As part of its long-term strategy, North Macedonia plans to secure natural gas supplies from Azerbaijan and use the resource in its national energy plans.

Goran Nikolovski, head of the gas sector at North Macedonia’s Ministry of Energy, Mining and Mineral Resources, told Trend in March that supplies of Azerbaijani gas would allow the country to cover base and peak loads while also providing greater flexibility for electricity generation from renewable energy sources.

“Our country has approximately 2 GW of renewable energy capacity. We are seeking to balance electricity generation through gas supplies from Azerbaijan. This balance is particularly important at night and during periods when energy production is low,” he said.

According to Nikolovski, progress has already been made in energy cooperation between the two countries. Working groups have been established with relevant Azerbaijani institutions, and a new memorandum is expected to be signed that could serve as the basis for a broader cooperation agreement once gas projects in North Macedonia are completed.

At the same time, gas cooperation between Azerbaijan and North Macedonia has already moved beyond the stage of long-term plans.

According to information previously obtained by Trend from an informed source, Azerbaijani natural gas has been supplied to household and industrial consumers in North Macedonia since December 1, 2025. The source said the supplies were organized through cooperation between SOCAR, M-Gaz and CNG Systems.

The project represents a pilot expansion of the virtual gasification initiative that has been implemented in Bulgaria since 2024.

How North Macedonia Is Connecting to the Regional Gas Network

North Macedonia’s accession to the Vertical Gas Corridor does not involve the construction of a single new gas pipeline. Instead, it involves integrating national gas transmission systems, interconnectors and LNG terminals to enable gas flows from southern Europe toward the north along several routes.

One of the key projects for North Macedonia is its interconnector with Greece. Construction is already underway, with the facility expected to become operational in 2027.

According to Bozhinovska, the 68-kilometer gas pipeline is expected to be completed as part of the project. At the same time, North Macedonia is developing a connection with Serbia. The relevant agreement has already been signed, and the interconnector is expected to be 23 kilometers long.

The establishment of a continuous connection stretching from Greece through North Macedonia to Serbia is expected by 2028.

The Greece-North Macedonia interconnector will provide North Macedonia with access to Greece’s gas transmission system as well as the LNG terminals at Revithoussa and Alexandroupolis. According to the ministry, the interconnector will initially have an annual transmission capacity of 1 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas.

The connection with Serbia, in turn, will provide access to the north and to the gas transmission systems of Central and Eastern Europe. Its planned capacity is 1.5 bcm per year.

A New Gas Route for the Western Balkans

Following the accession of North Macedonia and Serbia, the Vertical Gas Corridor is no longer simply a route connecting Greece with Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Slovakia and Hungary.

Its expansion toward the Western Balkans creates an additional axis through which gas entering the region, including LNG arriving through Greek terminals, can be transported to North Macedonia and subsequently to Serbia.

For North Macedonia, this could gradually transform the country from a predominantly end-user market into a potential transit link between southern Europe and Central Europe.

The expansion of this infrastructure also creates additional prospects for Azerbaijan. As interconnectors are developed and North Macedonia becomes more integrated into the regional gas network, conditions are emerging for expanding the access of Azerbaijani gas to Western Balkan markets through infrastructure connected to the Southern Gas Corridor.

According to Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Energy, the number of countries receiving Azerbaijani natural gas has reached 16, placing Azerbaijan among the world leaders in terms of the geographic reach of its pipeline gas exports.

Last year, Azerbaijan accounted for 8.1% of the European Union’s pipeline gas imports.

In the past year and the first four months of the current year, Azerbaijan exported 16.7 bcm of gas to Europe, 12.8 bcm to Türkiye, 3.3 bcm to Georgia and 800 million cubic meters to Syria.