Expert: Serbia Has Contract with Gazprom, Not Interested in Bulgaria’s Decision

President of the Assembly of Gas Associations Vojislav Vuletic (YTPrintScreen)

The president of the Assembly of Gas Associations, Vojislav Vuletic, stated on Oct. 18 that Bulgaria’s decision to increase the price of gas transit through the Balkan Stream gas pipeline could not apply on Serbia because Srbijagas had a contract with Gazprom on gas deliveries to the border of Serbia and Bulgaria.

“The transit price is not defined by a decision of one country, but is an international price that applies on 1,000 cubic meters (of gas) per 100 kilometers,” Vuletic told BETA.

The decree that Bulgaria passed several days ago and that came into effect immediately envisages a fee of 10.76 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters of Russian natural gas delivered via the Balkan Stream gas pipeline over that country’s territory. As the media conveyed, this would secure EUR1.2 billion in profit for Bulgaria and would cover the cost of building its segment of the gas pipeline in one year, while consumers in Serbia would be paying 20 percent more for gas, since it has already been planned for the gas price to hike by 10 percent as of Nov. 1.

Vuletic said that Srbijagas had a contract with Gazprom on gas deliveries to the Bulgaria-Serbia border. In his words, Serbia is not interested in what the Bulgarian parliament is doing, “because Serbia’s obligation is to pay for the gas as stipulated in the contract and receive it at the border.”