Serbia and Russia are working on a new gas supply agreement, Serbian minister says

Serbia and Russia are working on a new gas supply agreement, Nenad Popovic, a minister without portfolio in the Serbian government, said on 1 April.

Popovic, who is also co-chair of the Serbian-Russian Intergovernmental Committee for Trade, Economic and Scientific-Technological Cooperation, met in Moscow on Tuesday with Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov, who is co-chair of the Committee on the Russian side.

The consultations in Moscow were held at a “high level”, according to the statement, and included discussions on energy, industrial production, science, agriculture, as well as the use of new technologies.

Popovic said in a statement that “cooperation with Russia represents a strategic partnership, especially in the energy sector, where gas prices for Serbian citizens and the economy are the lowest in Europe”.

“Intensive work is underway to prepare a new contract, which expires at the end of May this year, and we are confident that Serbia will sign the new contract on the same privileged terms”, the minister’s office said.

For a quarter of a century, Serbia has been entirely dependent on gas supplies from Russia. The two countries have had natural gas supply contracts for decades. The latest deal was signed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in May 2022.

In the meantime, Serbia has started to look for other sources of supply, following the example of several European Union (EU) countries that have imposed sanctions against Russia.

Official Belgrade has concluded an agreement with Azerbaijan which provides for Serbia to receive up to 400 million cubic metres of gas per year from that country until 2026. This is enough for only 13% of Serbia’s needs, which consume more than three billion cubic metres of gas annually.

Incidentally, the Minister without Portfolio, Nenad Popovic, has been under US sanctions since November 2023 because of his close ties with the Kremlin. The Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vulin, is also on the US blacklist.

Both are among the few Serbian officials who have travelled regularly to Russia, even after the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine./RSE/