After the official talks of the president Serbia and Russia in Moscow, teams "Srbijagas" and "Gazprom" continued negotiations on specifying the new gas agreement, said the director of "Srbijagas" Dušan Bajatović.
He stated that the agreement was fundamentally agreed and that the next one could be signed for ten years, but that mutual risks should be discussed.
Bajatović pointed out that the two presidents have agreed on everything and that the continuation of cooperation has essentially been agreed, it remains to work on the details.
"There will be 2,5 billion, instead of two, which has been the case on an annual basis until now. Another important thing is that the problem is not the amount of gas at all, but rather the problem of flexibility, because Serbia started consuming 18 billion cubic meters per day in the cold days of winter. We will see how much it will cost," Bajatović said.
Bajatović states that the problem of flexibility is reflected in the transport capacity on cold days.
"Everyone would take much more. The Hungarians take 22 million every day and will buy in the following years. There is also Slovakia, we have to help our colleagues to have adequate amounts. Everyone wants to monetize, everyone wants to buy Russian gas, whatever they say," Bajatović stressed.
Decades of cooperation are possible
As for the arrangement itself, Serbia is asking for it to be for ten years, and the director of "Srbijagas" believes that its realization is possible, but mutual risks should be discussed.
"They agree and there is one very important question. Europe wants to ban Russian gas in 2027, but maybe there will be some agreement between the Russians and the Americans. The question arises as to what is the force majeure of our contract if we sign it for 10 years, for us and for the Russian side. That they do not incur penalties because they cannot deliver to us, and that we incur penalties because we cannot take over," Bajatović explains.
Serbia currently has 76 percent occupancy of the warehouse in Banatski dvor, Bajatović points out that it is kept for security of supply in risky situations.
"The most important thing is that we have, in fact, started the formal expansion of Banatski dvor," said Bajatović and pointed out that the first well has been drilled.
Spending supplies only in case of emergency
European warehouses are being filled for next winter, and Serbia is also working hard on its own.
"At this moment, we are injecting one million each for technical reasons, because we also have wells and some other operations that we are carrying out that concern the pressures in the reservoir. Don't worry, the stock will be full and we will not use it unless we have to," Bajatović stressed.
Sanctions due to Russian ownership
American sanctions against NIS were postponed until June 27, and previously the application of sanctions was also postponed at the end of February and March.
The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added NIS to its sanctions list due to Russian ownership in the company.
Source: RTS
