Russian Dep PM Novak discusses prospects for bilateral cooperation with Srbijagas board chairman
MOSCOW. Jan 22 (Interfax) - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has discussed prospects for bilateral cooperation in the fuel and energy sector with Aleksandar Vulin, chairman of the Srbijagas supervisory board, the government press service said.
"Serbia has always been regarded as one of our country's key partners. Carrying out mutually beneficial projects in energy, transport, infrastructure and information technology gives a major impetus to maintaining and deepening bilateral relations. It is important to note that today, trade and economic cooperation between our countries continues to develop dynamically against the backdrop of a challenging international situation," Novak said.
The contract for Russian gas supplies to Serbia expires at the end of March. It was expected to be extended for the whole of 2026, but was only extended for the first quarter of the year.
Russia began exporting natural gas to the region in 1978. Gazprom's key partner within Serbia is currently the state-owned Srbijagas. Since 2021, Gazprom has been supplying gas to Serbia via a new route, through the offshore TurkStream pipeline and then through Turkey and Bulgaria.
Serbia consumed 2.65 billion cubic meters of gas in 2024, almost all of it supplied by Russia.
Energy cooperation with Belgrade is being complicated by the situation surrounding Russian investments in the national energy company NIS. Russia assumes that the Serbian authorities will continue fulfilling their obligations under the intergovernmental agreement in light of the situation with NIS, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his Direct Line in December.
Serbian petroleum concern NIS, which is a subsidiary of Russia's Gazprom Neft , was added to the U.S. SDN List at the beginning of 2025. U.S. authorities demanded the complete divestment of Russian capital, and Gazprom Neft recently agreed to sell a controlling stake in NIS to Hungary's MOL. OFAC and Serbian authorities have not yet approved the deal.
