ANTIC: Problems in gas supply in Serbia during winter not expected

Problems with gas supply in Serbia during the winter season are not expected, stated Minister of Mining and Energy Aleksandar Antic on December 22. He added that scenarios for possible unforeseen situations had nevertheless been prepared.

He said at the topical conference Energy Safety, organized by Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) and the Balkanmagazin portal, with support by the Ministry of Energy, that the gas storage in Banatski Dvor contained 412 million cubic meters of stored gas at the moment and that reserves of other energy sources had been secured so that they could be substituted for the gas if there was need for it.

– The question of gas supply in Serbia is an especially sensitive one in the system of energy stability, as we have one supply line from Hungary. There are tensions about this before each winter season, but I am convinced that the supply of this energy source will be stable – Antic said.

According to his estimates, the issue of gas supply in the coming winter period will be settled within the Russia-Ukraine-European Commission triangle, as it is in one party’s interest to sell, in the other’s to transport, and in Europe’s to get a steady supply.

Antic said that final negotiations with Gazprom about the expansion of the Banatski Dvor storage, with a capacity of 450 million cubic meters at the moment, were in progress and that he expected that a decision would be made in the next weeks about the manner of expansion.

He reminded that 51% of the Banatski Dvor storage was owned by Gazprom and that 49% was owned by Srbijagas and that around 220 million cubic meters of gas in the storage was owned by the Russian company. The annual storage tax, as he said, is around USD 30 for 1,000 cubic meters, and the estimates of the annual income of Banataski Dvor are, accordingly, around USD 13 million.

Antic added that it was indisputable that the Russian gas was the future of supply in Europe, but that Serbia also needed to have alternatives and safety options.

– Serbia made a questionable decision to define its energy stability regarding gas by one project only, and I’m not afraid to say so. In the future, getting tied to a single project, while finding flaws with all the others, must be avoided. Our job is to build new interconnections with Bulgaria, Romania, to repay Greece, as it is in the interest of our children for us to build something – Antic said.

He added that the interconnection with Bulgaria was fully certain and that he expected that the memorandum on the project would be signed soon.

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

JP Srbijagas Novi Sad

Gazprom Moscow

Akcionarsko društvo Elektroprivreda Srbije Beograd

Ministry of Mining and Energy

Gazprom

EPS

Banatski Dvor gas storage

Banatski Dvor

gas supply

Aleksandar Antic

Energy Safety conference

gas reserves

gas storage

gas interconnections