BAJATOVIC: Gas price for Serbia goes down by USD 50

(Dusan Bajatovic)

Starting December, Serbia will be paying USD 50 less for 1,000 cubic meters of gas from Russia, Srbijagas CEO Dusan Bajatovic announced Saturday (15 September 2012) in Nestin, stressing that the price of the Russian gas had already been decreased by 12 percent in early 2012.

CEO Bajatovic told the press in Nestin, where he opened the water factory Vila Voda as a member of the Serbian parliament, that as of January, the gas price charged to Serbia would amount to USD 420 instead of expected USD 470 for 1,000 cubic meters of gas.

However, Bajatovic stressed that the decrease in the price charged to the state would not result in a decrease in the gas price charged to consumers because the price of gas was already 30 percent lower than its market price.

Due to the fact that the gas price charged to consumers is 30 percent lower than the realistic price, Srbijagas has been making losses for three years now, Bajatovic pointed out.

The CEO of Srbijagas said that he expected an interstate agreement to be signed soon between Serbia and Russia, based on which Srbijagas and Gazprom would enter into a long-term agreement on gas deliveries to the Serbian market.

Bajatovic noted that the supply of gas to citizens and the economy would be stable during the forthcoming season.

Serbia will be the first country to start the construction of onshore section of the South Stream gas pipeline, Bajatovic said and reiterated that the country would become a significant "regional player" thanks to that and some other projects in the energy sector.