Serbia wants to give us Russian gas from the South Stream

Serbia sees our country as a potential customer for the natural gas to be brought into its territory by the South Stream pipeline.

Dusan Bajatovic, director of the state company Srbijagas, said the pipeline that will transit through Serbia, will have a capacity of 36-42 billion cubic meters per year, and is to be increased, given the large number of potential buyers, such as Romania, France, Croatia, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia.

"We examined the possibilities of storage and construction of an additional reservoir, of strategic level, and South Stream would give Serbia the opportunity to store 5-7 billion cubic meters, which will transform the country into a regional player, probably Europe", explained Bajatovic.

When South Stream will become operational, Serbia could achieve annual revenue up to 500 million euros from gas transit, according to the general director of the state company Srbijagas, Dusan Bajatovic, quoted by B92 website.

On Tuesday, Russia and Serbia signed an agreement under which Gazprom will own 51% of the Russian-Serbian joint venture that will design, build and operate the South Stream Serbian section and a similar percentage in another company that will build a gas storage depot in Banatski Dvor. The remaining shares of 49% go to Srbijagas.

• Translated by Sorin Balan