Exemptions for new natural gas infrastructure

Pursuant to the Energy Law (“Official Gazette of RS”, No. 145/14 and 95/18 –another law) (Article 288), upon request, new gas pipeline infrastructure facilities (interconnectors or natural gas storages) may be exempted from the application of Article 224 of the Law as well as from the rights to access referred to in Article 283, paragraph 1 of the Law, if the following conditions are met:

1. investment in a new infrastructural facility increases competitiveness in the market and security of supply;
2. the risk of investments in new infrastructural facilities is such that the investment will not be made unless the exemption is approved;
3. new infrastructural facilities are owned by a natural or legal person that performs business operations within another legal person separated from the system operator within which the new infrastructural facilities will be constructed;
4. users of the new infrastructural facility bear the expenses of the facility use;
5. the exemption does not prevent competition, efficient functioning of the internal natural gas market and efficient operation of the regulated system to which the new infrastructural facilities are connected.

The legal act of the Ministry of Mining and Energy which regulates conditions for the exemption, content of the exemption application and the content of the exemption act in more detail is available here.

The Agency adopts an exemption act upon the receipt of the opinion of the Ministry and the exemption act is published along with a detailed rationale in the “Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia and on the Agency website.

Prior to the publication of an exemption act, the Agency decides on rules and mechanisms for capacity management and allocation which also imply an obligation to offer unallocated capacity in the market, while infrastructure users are entitled to trade in their contracted capacity in the market.

The Agency cooperates with the Energy Community Secretariat within the procedure related to the adoption of the exemption act in a manner prescribed by the Energy Law, in line with obligations arising from ratified international treaties (Treaty establishing the Energy Community).

Relevant data on the exemption procedures for new infrastructure are available here.