Minister of Energy, Development and Environmental Protection Zorana Mihajlovic and Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Valentinovich Novak signed an agreement on delivering Russian natural gas to Serbia.
The agreement was signed at the Serbian government in the presence of Prime Minister Ivica Dacic who afterwards stated that the agreement will help stabilise Serbia’s energy situation and secure the delivery of gas over the next decade.
He said that the agreement envisages an annual delivery of five billion cubic metres of gas to Serbia by 2021, and it may help bring the price of 1,000 cubic metres of gas from $470 to $420 early in 2013.
Dacic stressed he expects a strategic agreement between Serbia and Russia to be soon signed, adding that one part of it is the gas agreement that was closed today.
It is necessary to turn the historical friendship and closeness between our two states and peoples into cooperation in all segments, Dacic observed, adding that the agreement on the delivery of Russian gas will be a step towards strengthening the bonds between Serbia and Russia.
Dacic said that in the period ahead we can expect several joint projects to be realised and that everything is ready to open the revived oil refinery in Pancevo next month.
We expect the works on the South Stream gas pipeline to begin in December as announced, Dacic recalled, voicing his hope that the construction of the pipeline through Serbia will also soon commence, as this is an important project and an investment worth almost €2 billion.
The Prime Minister noted that an agreement on a Russian loan for budget stabilisation and another loan for the Serbian railroads will most likely be signed soon.
In order to realise these investments, Russian banks must be present in Serbia to provide adequate support to the increase in the trade volume between Serbia and Russia.
Dacic noted that there are great opportunities to build up Serbia’s export to Russia, particularly in terms of agricultural products.
He added that an agreement on the participation of Russian companies in the strategic partnership for the Smederevo steelworks and procurement of other companies, such as the railcar factory, will most likely be concluded soon.
Dacic expressed his wishes to Minister of Natural Resources, Mining and Spatial Planning Milan Bacevic and Russian Minister Alexander Valentinovich Novak, who are at the head of the mixed Serbian-Russian commission, to reach the goal set by Sergey Shoigu and himself in 2008 to double the trade volume between their states by 2018.
Minister Mihajlovic said that agreement is a sign that Serbia will be secure in terms of energy and gas economy and will have enough gas in the future.
Mihajlovic underlined that this is an umbrella agreement for the next ten years, and that annual agreements on the amounts and prices will be signed between Srbijagas and Gazprom.
She also stressed that the South Stream project will be given the status of a national project, adding her expectation that procedural issues will be soon resolved.
The Minister pointed out the importance of investments in the Serbian energy sector for the overall economic development of the country.
Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Valentinovich Novak noted that the agreement envisages the annual delivery of five billion cubic metres of gas.
We are faced with a task to improve cooperation in oil, gas, electricity, agriculture, culture and other remits, Novak said, adding that perspectives for the increase of the trade volume between the two countries are indeed good.
The volume of Russian investments in the Serbian economy will be $1 billion, Novak added.
Source Serbia Gov.
