Expert: Serbia Will Have Hard Time Finding Alternative to Russian Natural Gas

Gas Pipeline (Free Image)

The energy expert Milos Zdravkovic believes that Serbia will have a hard time finding alternatives to Russian natural gas, as its annual consumption is 2.8 to three billion cubic meters of the fuel, the Dec. 3 issue of the Danas daily reported.

In a Dec. 2 address to the public about U.S. sanctions against the Serbian NIS oil company, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic gave Russia an ultimatum about the natural gas deal between the two countries. "If we don't get a deal by Friday [Dec. 5], on Monday [Dec. 8] we start gas negotiations elsewhere. We have the money ready," Vucic said.

Zdravkovic said that the capacity of the interconnector with Bulgaria was 1.8 billion cubic meters per year. "It connects with the terminal in Alexandroupolis, but it's questionable whether there's gas for us. Gas is ordered in long-term contracts," he said. The Serbian industry, he said, consumes 1.75 billion cubic meters, and large cities that use natural gas for heating, like Belgrade, Nis or Novi Sad, use up another 560 million cubic meters of gas, while private households consume another 300 million.

"How does that gas get to us -- that is the key question," Zdravkovic said, adding that this was not just the current government's problem, because storage capacity was not planned for in time. "The Russians offered to expand Banatski Dvor. There was a European offer for a gas reservoir in Itebej -- we could have had a billion cubic meters. And we could have stored some 300 million cubic meters outside Pancevo," Zdravkovic said.