Nis Gas Plant: Government Approves SOCAR Shareholders Deal
The approval covers a shareholders agreement among EPS, Srbijagas and SOCAR, which will found a joint company. The plant would have up to 500 MW; no investment value has been published.
A gas power plant of up to 500 MW in Nis has received Serbian government approval for the shareholders agreement signed on September 30 by Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS), Srbijagas of Novi Sad and Azerbaijan’s SOCAR. According to news reports from October 17, the decision has been published in the Official Gazette.
What exactly did the government approve?
The government did not approve an existing company, because the joint company does not exist yet. The consent covers the conclusion of the shareholders agreement, under which the three companies will set up a company to develop, finance, build and operate a plant producing both electricity and heat.
Two decisions were adopted. One gives consent to a decision of the Srbijagas Supervisory Board, the other to a decision of the EPS Assembly. Both bodies approved the agreement at sessions held on September 30, 2026, the same day it was signed.
What does the shareholders agreement provide?
Ownership of the future company is split into two equal halves: 50 percent goes to the Serbian companies and 50 percent to SOCAR. All three companies are state-owned.
The agreement sets out the companies’ rights and obligations, joint management, unanimity on key decisions during the preparatory phase, and the financing of development activities. The plant would run on a combined gas-steam cycle and, according to the plan, would stand between the villages of Lalinac and Krusac near Nis.
The agreement was signed at the Serbian government by EPS chief executive Dusan Zivkovic, Srbijagas chief executive Dusan Bajatovic and Elchin Ibadov, adviser to the SOCAR president for development and portfolio and chief executive of SOCAR Turkey. The signing was attended by Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic, minister of mining and energy in a caretaker mandate, and Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Serbia, Tahir Tagizade. The first meeting of the project’s Steering Committee was held before the signing.
What has been done so far?
At the signing, Zivkovic recalled what has been prepared:
- the Pre-Feasibility Study has been completed
- the Spatial Plan of the City of Nis has been adopted
- planning documentation and a Study on Connection to the Transmission System have been contracted
- designers have been engaged, and work has begun on the Feasibility Study and the technical documentation
The minister said that founding the joint company is the next step after the signing:
“Given that the Nis gas plant project is already at an advanced stage of preparation, founding a joint company, which is the next step after today’s signing, will allow even more efficient and stronger cooperation on preparing construction. This power facility is very important to us for generating electricity, balancing the system and attracting investment in the south of Serbia,” said Djedovic Handanovic.
What do the signatories say?
The minister described gas as a transitional solution: “Compared with coal and fuel oil, gas is a transitional energy source in the process of energy transition,” she said, adding that the project is a basis for development of long-term importance because electricity consumption is rising.
Zivkovic said the goal is energy security and more diverse sources:
“In a time of energy transition and ever greater and more intense global challenges, new energy, new megawatts, is imperative. EPS is determined to secure energy security and diversify sources, and to use gas as a transit fuel. For months we have been working actively on the project, with a clear goal of building a highly efficient 500 MW combined gas-steam power plant,” said Zivkovic.
Bajatovic noted that Azerbaijan is Serbia’s largest natural gas supplier after Russia, so building a partnership around the power plant is, as he put it, logical:
“A lot has already been done in practice, so I have no doubt that we will build a new gas power plant. It is needed above all by EPS for balancing the power system, which is very important for the future,” said Bajatovic.
Ibadov spoke for SOCAR and described the signing as a continuation of the intergovernmental agreement:
“This agreement enables SOCAR and EPS to jointly develop a combined gas-steam power plant in Nis. Together we will prepare a technical feasibility study with a team of expert engineers. When the preparatory work is finished, our goal is to reach a joint investment decision. We know we will have to work hard, and we will work together with our partners to reach that goal,” said Ibadov.
When could the plant start operating?
Published sources give the deadline in two ways. The Ministry of Mining and Energy said the plan is for the plant to be built within the next four years, with priority on completing all technical, economic and study analyses. According to Biznis Kurir, the minister named 2030 as the completion date on September 30.
The investment value is not stated in the available reports on the decision and the agreement. The investment decision is still to come: Ibadov said the goal is a joint investment decision once preparatory work is complete. The plant is the first joint project of EPS, Srbijagas and SOCAR.
