Serbia, which has traditionally maintained close ties with Moscow while pursuing European Union membership, relies heavily on Russian gas and is seeking to renew the pervious deal that expired in March.
Russian gas has been reaching Serbia via the Turkish Stream pipeline through the Black Sea since 2021. Last year, Russia supplied about 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the Balkan nation.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic visited Russia on May 8–9 to participate in the VE Day military parade, Novak noted.
“A new gas contract was discussed at the meeting,” he added.
These discussions come amid EU plans to completely phase out Russian gas imports by the end of 2027.
Reuters reported that Russia and the United States are now discussing the resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe as part of Washington’s push for a ceasefire in the Russo–Ukrainian war. Negotiations reportedly include proposals for U.S. participation in various schemes for delivering Russian gas to the EU.
Meanwhile, Brussels intends to bar new Russian gas deals until the end of 2025 and to halt imports under existing contracts until the end of 2027. The plan, expected to be discussed next month, will require approval from the European Parliament and a majority of EU member states. Hungary and Slovakia have voiced objections to the proposal.
Gazprom’s gas deliveries to Europe via Turkish Stream dropped 7.3% in April from March, falling from 45 million cubic meters to 41.7 million cubic meters per day.
Following the shutdown of the Yamal-Europe and Nord Stream pipelines and the suspension of the route through Ukraine since January, Gazprom has relied on a single route to Europe—through Turkey—with an annual capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters.
Reuters estimates that Gazprom’s supplies to Europe in 2024 rose 13% to approximately 32 billion cubic meters, up from 28.3 billion cubic meters the previous year. At its export peak in 2018-2019, the company delivered as much as 175 to 180 billion cubic meters to Europe, which accounted for more than 80% of its international gas sales.