Moscow, Belgrade extend current gas supplies contract until end of September

BELGRADE, May 26. /TASS/. Moscow and Belgrade extended the term of the current contract for the supply of Russian natural gas to Serbia under the existing terms until September 30, according to Director of Srbijagas Dusan Bajatovic.

"On Friday, we signed an annex to the existing contract, extending the same conditions until September 30. Thus, we have secured a supply of 6 mln cubic meters at a price of 290 euro per 1,000 cubic meters," he stated during a broadcast on Radio and Television of Serbia.

According to Bajatovic, the contract extension will allow Belgrade to fill its gas storage facilities ahead of the heating season. He also emphasized that, should the European Union’s sanctions be extended to include supplies of Russian gas, the United States would be unable to compensate for the resulting shortages. "I will repeat what I have been saying for many years: without Russian gas, there is no solution for stable supplies," he stressed.

Earlier, Bajatovic had stated that the Serbian side aimed to sign a new 10-year gas supply agreement with Russia by the end of May. He also mentioned the necessity of including in the contract clauses addressing force majeure, specifically the potential inability to deliver supplies due to a possible expansion of the EU’s anti-Russian sanctions regime.