Serbia is looking into buying 3 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas annually for 10 years, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in on TV Tuesday, Trend reports citing TASS.
"Currently, under our long-term contract, we buy the gas for $270; just imaging the price skyrocketing to $900. We currently have 161 million cubic meters of gas in our storage facilities; we have already spent 100 million cubic meters [since the beginning of the crisis]," the Serbian leader said. "Meanwhile, investments depend on this. We will now ask President Putin to provide us with at least 3 billion cubic meters annually for 10 years."
"Additional complications have emerged today: the German authorities have suspended the certification of Nord Stream 2, and gas prices jumped from $960 to $1,140," Vucic said, noting that the electric power price on the European market is currently standing at 250 euro per MW/h while in Serbia it remains at 50 euro.
On January 1, Vucic launched the Balkan Stream pipeline in Serbia, which enabled gas supply to the republic from Russia. The Serbian part of the pipeline is an extension of one of the two Turkish Stream pipes, (launched on January 8, 2020), which supply gas to Turkey, followed by Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary. The Serbian pipeline is 403 km long with capacity of 13.9 billion cubic meters per year.
Earlier, Vucic mentioned his intention to discuss the gas price for Serbia during his meeting with Vladimir Putin on November 25. According to the Serbian leader, the initial proposal included a formula that set the gas price at $780-$790 per thousand cubic meters. He admitted that the republic would not be able to sustain such price. On October 7, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov stated that he hopes that the long-term gas contract for Serbia will be signed before the end of 2021.