Bajatovic: New gas arrangement with Russia due by end-May

BELGRADE - Srbijagas CEO Dusan Bajatovic said on Tuesday Serbia had secured an extension of a natural gas arrangement with Russia and that gas supplies would be increased from 2 to 2.5 bln cubic m of gas a year, and that he expected a new agreement to be signed by end-May.

Under the deal, Serbia will have eight million cubic metres of gas a month, instead of six, Bajatovic told the RTS.

He said the arrangement was not only about quantity but also about flexibility of supplies as Serbia had begun consuming 18 mln cubic metres of gas a day in the cold winter months.

"In that regard, we have made an agreement, we will see how much that will cost, flexible additional quantities of up to 4 mln, which means that, from Russia, we will have eight plus four. I can already say that, for the sake of security - and not quantity - we will be storing 200 mln cubic m of gas in Hungary and that, in the cold days, approximately from November 15 to end-February or March 15, we will be buying up to 2 mln from Azerbaijan, which means that we have put the energy picture together," Bajatovic said.