The director of Srbijagas, Dušan Bajatović, said today that the second gas price increase this year will be up to 10 percent from November 1, and that the exact figure will be known next month.
Bajatović said that the price of gas will rise from EUR 0.37 per cubic meter to EUR 0.40 and that, if the average consumption is about 400 cubic meters, it will be an increase of about EUR 10.24 dinars per average bill in the heating season.
“The International Monetary Fund asked for 10 percent, but if the papers of Srbijagas show that it can be a little less, then we will not go to the detriment of customers, but only to maintain the liquidity of Srbijagas so that supplies can be financed.” If it exceeds that, the cost will be borne by the state of Serbia”, Bajatović said in a guest appearance on RTS.
He pointed out that the gas price increase from November 1 depends on two things. “The price on the stock market at which we can buy it and, possibly, how much money Srbijagas needs to pay back the five- and seven-year loans.” That price increase will certainly not be higher than 10 percent. How specific it will be, we will calculate practically next month. It should happen from November 1st”, emphasized Bajatović. According to him, Serbia will have about 700 million cubic meters of gas in stock.
“It is about 400 million cubic meters in Banatski dvor and the storage in Hungary is being filled. Serbia also has about 300 million cubic meters in the Russian part of the Banat court,” added Bajatović.
He said that he does not know what the winter will be like, but that we will be safe even if the temperatures are minus 20.
The director of Srbijagas said that there are not enough quantities of gas for Europe, but also that there are no speculative activities that took place when gas reached 3,700 dollars.
“Currently, the price of gas is around $300 per 1,000 cubic meters on the reference European exchange, plus transport, plus if you have customs duties or taxes.” We are currently acquiring it at the same price, practically from the Russian arrangement, but without any additional intermediaries and additional costs”, he said.
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