The memorandum with Austria, Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Slovakia, Serbia and Ukraine was signed on Friday as part of the Croatia Forum in Dubrovnik, which is focusing on energy this year.

The document was signed on Slovenia's behalf by director general of the energy directorate at the Infrastructure Ministry Danijel Levičar.

The regional initiative is a response to Russia's cancellation of the South Stream gas pipeline project. It was established by the European Commission in a bid to diversify energy supply in Southeast and Central Europe.

The countries associated in CESEC will look to identify projects in the region that could enable each to access at least three different sources of natural gas to reduce their dependence on Russia, according to the Slovenian Infrastructure Ministry.

Slovenia currently has access to six sources of natural gas, and it was invited to the group as a country that was involved in the South Stream project, like Austria and Italy.

The list of CESEC projects includes three pipeline projects connecting Slovenia with Hungary, Austria and Croatia.

The memorandum of understanding is a political document that does not bring any new obligations for Slovenia and has no legal consequences. It is an expression of political support to the objectives that the countries in the region have set in the field of gas supply, according to the ministry.