The General Director of Srbijagas, Dusan Bajatovic, told Tanjug today that enough gas has been provided, and that its transport to Serbia is not affected by the conflict in Ukraine, and that the price remains unchanged between 34 and 36 dinars per cubic meter. “We are safe in principle with the supply of gas. Mostly the quantities are delivered to the Balkan Stream,” he said.
He assessed that Serbia has no problem for now and explained that the routes that bring gas to the Turkish Stream, and later to the Balkan Stream, are far from the conflict in Ukraine, and do not lean on the routes that went through that country.
“Technically, we should not have any problems. Normally, just in case, we can procure certain quantities from traders from Hungary and MOL as producers,” he said.
The Banatski Dvor warehouse has 120 million cubic meters owned by Srbijagas, and 165 million owned by Russian Gazpromexport.
“When we add up about five million cubic meters of gas a day, and with some substitution, if there is a complete interruption for which we are now ready, because the Serbian government has procured certain quantities of fuel oil, we can last 60 to 90 days,” he said.
He added that it is important that the electricity system is stable, as well as the gas supply system, and that the district heating systems work without problems.
“Srbijagas has enough money in the account, which was mostly provided by the Ministry of Finance, and some by Srbijagas from loans or current liquidity. The decree passed by the Serbian government is the final confirmation that there will be no increase in gas prices by the end of the heating season,” he said. he is to Tanjug.
He explained that the Decree in practice means that the difference in the import price will in some way be paid by either the state of Serbia or Srbijagas through some kind of borrowing, issuing bonds or in some other way.
“We will see that when all this is over and we submit the bill to the state of Serbia and see how much of a difference there is in money,” he said, adding that it will be decided by the future Government of Serbia, the future Ministry of Finance and Srbijagas.
Bajatović reiterated that a new contract with Gazprom is expected in the second half of the year, with a price, as he said, in principle 30 percent lower than the stock exchange price, and he expects slightly larger quantities of gas.
“We expect that this year’s gas consumption in Serbia will exceed the magic figure of three billion cubic meters, ie it will reach 3.2 billion,” he said.
He emphasized that the Serbian side will do its best to ensure that the largest part of the price in the agreement with Gazprom is related to the oil formula, and the part will certainly be related to the reference stock exchange at Gazprom’s insistence.
Speaking about the impact of the war conflict on gas and oil prices in the first place, he pointed out that it always, like sanctions, complicates the situation.
“As soon as the trust with producers and suppliers falls, it means high energy prices. It is good that we have money for now. We have maintained the Government of Serbia, Srbijagas, the level of social product. So the budget will be filled, the standard will grow jobs and production is good for all of us, “he said.
Bajatović said that he hoped that HIP Azotara in Pancevo, which produces artificial fertilizers based on ammonia, would start working soon, and added that they were working on that issue.
He also confirmed that sufficient quantities have been provided for the start of work of TETO Pancevo, which was announced for the beginning of March.
“We have predicted the quantities of gas for TPP TO Pancevo, and we will deliver it to them. In other respects, about 90 megawatts of gas are produced in Novi Sad, it can be raised to 200 megawatts if needed,” he said.
He added that there would be enough gas next to the plants in Pancevo and Novi Sad, if necessary for the thermal power plants in Sremska Mitrovica and Zrenjanin.
“But I hope it won’t be necessary,” he said.
Speaking about the price, Bajatović explained that it is now based on the level of up to $ 300 for 1,000 cubic meters of gas for citizens and industry.
“Since there are more than 30 distributors, I will not intentionally say what the price is, because it is somewhere a dinar or two higher, and somewhere lower. It should not exceed 36 dinars in the Srbijagas system, or 34 dinars. Some distributors have something more, and in our country it is currently the cheapest, “he said, RTV reports.
