The visit comes as Serbia’s three-year gas supply agreement with Russian energy giant Gazprom nears expiration later this month. Despite efforts to diversify its energy sources, Serbia remains heavily reliant on Russian gas.
Vucic, who travelled to the Russian capital on May 7 to attend the Victory Day military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany, confirmed that energy talks would be high on the agenda during his May 9 meeting with Putin.
"Serbia is saving a lot of money because of the gas supply contract it has with Russia and it is important to contract new quantities," Vucic told reporters in Moscow.
Vucic said the new deal aims to ensure “a constant delivery of eight million cubic metres of gas, as well as to have the flexible possibility to withdraw another four million cubic metres.”
Serbia currently pays $275 per 1,000 cubic metres under its Russian contract, significantly less than the European benchmark. "Gas prices on the European TTF exchange for 1,000 cubic metres of gas today fell from $410 to $400, and today we pay $275," Vucic said.
The Serbian president added that national demand ranges between 15mn and 18mn cubic metres daily, even during the summer months, necessitating withdrawals from Hungarian storage facilities. He also noted efforts to expand the Banatski Dvor gas storage site.
While Serbia recently gained access to Azerbaijani gas and is pursuing additional sources, the upcoming negotiations with Russia underscore Moscow’s enduring role in the Balkan country's energy strategy, and help to explain why Belgrade maintains close ties with the Kremlin despite EU pressure.
Vucic and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will be the only European leaders attending the May 9 parade, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from the EU. Brussels said earlier that attending the parade would complicate Serbia's already stalled bid for EU membership, a warning that seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
(intellinews.com, May 8, 2025)