In the first quarter of this year, Serbia paid an average of 1.100 dollars for 1000 tons of gas, according to the experts of the journal Macroeconomic Analysis and Trends (MAT), which is a consequence of the increase in the price of oil to 628 dollars per ton.
MAT experts believe that the agreement reached between Serbia and Russia on the delivery of 2,2 billion cubic meters of gas in the next three years ensures a safe and stable supply of gas in the medium term.
They stated that the price for the largest part of Serbia's needs of 2,2 billion cubic meters of gas, as before, will be determined by the price value of three oil derivatives (diesel and two types of fuel oil) on the Mediterranean market (Stock Exchange in Italy), in the current quarter on based on the average price from the previous three quarters.
"It will turn out that the price defined in this way worked for us in the previous months and thanks to that, we avoided a 'catastrophe'," MAT economists stated.
In the first three months, Serbia paid the lowest average price of gas in Europe - 511,1 dollars per ton. In the same period, Germany purchased gas from Russia that was about 51 percent more expensive, while for Lithuania and Slovakia that energy product was 3,2 times more expensive.
However, the second part of the arrangement between Russia and Serbia is unfavorable.
Namely, due to the condition that obligates us to pay for all other required quantities of gas according to the current price on the free market, in the first quarter we thus acquired 487,9 thousand tons, i.e. 38 percent of the imported gas quantities, so Russian gas from that quota was paid for at a price that was 4,2 times higher than the one paid according to the oil formula.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić recently agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the delivery of 2,2 billion cubic meters of gas in the next three-year period that began on June 1. The price of that gas according to the oil formula should be from 310 to 408 dollars for 1.000 cubic meters, but Serbia needs about 800 million more cubic meters, which it will have to buy at prices on the free market.
S.Ć. /NovaS
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