Serbia to pay less for Russian gas

Serbia will pay less for Russian gas delivered through the extension of the 31.5bn m³/yr Turkish Stream pipeline than for gas shipped through Ukraine.

The maximum price for delivery of Russian gas to Serbia's border with Bulgaria — flows through which started on 1 January — is $155/'000m³, Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic said. This is "much lower" than the price of gas delivered through Ukraine, which is $160/'000m³, plus additional transit costs, Vucic said.

Flows from Bulgaria at the new Kireevo-Zaychar point were 74.2 GWh/d on 1-4 January. Deliveries to Serbia at the Hungarian border — where Russian gas enters the country after passing through Ukraine — slipped to 31.3 GWh/d from 112.8 GWh/d last month (see graph).

The Bulgarian extension of Turkish Stream will also be used for deliveries to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia's state-controlled Gazprom said.

Russia is the main gas import source for both Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Gazprom made combined sales to the two countries of 2.37bn m³ in 2019, the most recent full year for which data are available. Sales were firmly on course to fall in 2020, having been only 920mn m³ in January-September, according to the latest available data (see data & download).

By Paul Martin

Reconfiguration of Serbian deliveries GWh/d