Serbia secures energy deal with Russia

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday he has agreed a favorable price for Russian natural gas imports under the terms of a new energy deal.

“We agreed with Russian partners on the volumes at the lowest, very low price – from $360 to $410 per 1,000 cubic meters for 64% to 65% of the amount of gas needed by Serbia,” TASS quoted him as saying.

“I believe we will start pumping the first volumes of gas in early June in Hungary,” he added. “Now we have 205 million cubic meters in our part of the UGS Banatski Dvor. We pump everything we can and buy today, and not when the gas will cost $5,000.”

The Serbian leader called the current situation with energy supplies “terrible,” noting that the country is “preparing an additional €1 billion ($1.05 billion) to fill the gaps.”

Last month, Serbia secured a new three-year contract for gas imports with Moscow. Belgrade’s previous 10-year gas supply contract with Russia’s Gazprom expired on May 31.

READ MORE: US wants Serbia to ditch Russian gas

Vucic earlier said his country had incurred significant losses due to EU sanctions on Russia, particularly on oil. He added that the restrictions would cost Belgrade $600 million a year.

Although Serbia is not part of the European Union, the country’s energy supplies transit through EU countries. Therefore, any potential sanctions imposed by Brussels on Russian energy supplies affect Serbia.

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