The project to build a gas interconnection between Serbia and Bulgaria is one of the European Union's top priorities, the EU energy chief  Maros Sefcovic has said.

Proposals for the funding of the project pursuant to EU rules for Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) funds are to be discussed with the prime ministers and the ministers in charge, Sefcovic told reporters as he toured the Nikola Tesla coal-fired power plant in Obrenovac on Wednesday, according to Serbian news agency Tanjug.

Five companies have shown interest in advising the Energy Ministry in Sofia on the project to build a gas interconnector linking Bulgaria and Serbia.

The EU is backing the project to enable countries in the region to build gas interconnections to reduce their dependence on a single gas supply route as well as achieve lower gas prices, Tanjug quoted the European Commission Vice President for Energy Union as saying.

Gas Interconnection Bulgaria - Serbia is a project which calls for the construction of a 150 kilometre-long pipeline which will connect the gas transmission networks of the two neighbouring countries.

The projected pipeline, for which four potential routes have been mapped,  is planned to carry about 1.8 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas annually in both directions. The capacity of the pipeline could be expanded up to 4.5 bcm at a later stage.