Latest news with #DusanBajatovic
Reuters
10 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Serbia seeks new gas deal with Russia at 'best price in Europe'
ST PETERSBURG, June 18 (Reuters) - Serbia is working on a new gas deal with Russia and will get the best price in Europe, the head of its state gas company told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. Dusan Bajatovic, the head of Srbijagas, also said Europe - just like Serbia - would have no other option but to go back to Russian gas to cover its energy needs at reasonable cost. Serbia is one of the last remaining Russian gas buyers in Europe, receiving around 3 billion cubic metres last year. It is seeking membership of the European Union, which this week proposed a legally binding ban on imports of Russian gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) by the end of 2027. Bajatovic said the new contract with Gazprom would run from September, with a duration of either three or 10 years. "The issue of price is more or less resolved. It will be very good, it will be the best price in Europe," Bajatovic said. He declined to give details, as commercial talks were still going on. Bajatovic said the future of the gas market would be shaped by Russia and the United States, as producers, and China as a major consumer, and Europe would have to live with it. "It is mathematics. You cannot solve the equation of gas supplies to Europe at acceptable prices without the Russian gas," he said on the sidelines of Russia's main economic conference in St Petersburg, which has been shunned by most Western CEOs because of the war in Ukraine. Bajatovic said he fully supported the idea of U.S. investors buying the Nord Stream gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea, which was severely damaged by explosions in 2022 and has not delivered gas since then.
Reuters
19-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Russia's Gazprom works on new gas supply contract with Serbia, TASS reports
MOSCOW, May 19 (Reuters) - Kremlin-controlled energy giant Gazprom ( opens new tab is working on a new gas supply contract with Serbia, TASS news agency cited Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak as saying on Monday. Serbia, which historically has close ties to Moscow but also aspires to join the European Union, heavily depends on Russia for natural gas and has been looking to renew the gas supply deal which expired in March. Russian gas has been supplied to Serbia through the TurkStream pipeline via the Black Sea since 2021. Russia delivered around 3 billion cubic metres of natural gas to Serbia last year. Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic travelled to Russia on May 8 and 9 for a parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. Novak said the new gas contract was discussed at the meeting, TASS reported. According to Vedomosti newspaper, the CEO of state gas company Srbijagas, Dusan Bajatovic, told Belgrade-based TV Prva over the weekend that the new deal should be signed by May 31 and he expected to visit Moscow this week to discuss it. The discussions come as the EU plans to fully phase out Russian gas imports by the end of 2027 over the conflict in Ukraine.
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Serbia expects another sanctions waiver from US for oil company NIS, official says
BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbian oil company NIS, majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom, is likely to get a last-minute, 30-day extension to its waiver from U.S. sanctions, the CEO of state gas company Srbijagas said on Thursday. The previous waiver is due to expire at midnight, and if it is not extended NIS could face crude supply cuts. NIS operates the only oil refinery in Serbia, which has annual capacity of 4.8 million tons and covers most of the Balkan country's needs. "There will be more delays of sanctions ... , but we cannot expect more than 30 days," Srbijagas CEO Dusan Bajatovic told Belgrade-based Pink TV. He did not say how he knew this information. Bajatovic is a member of Serbia's co-ruling Socialist party and Srbijagas is also a trade partner of Gazprom. NIS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. As part of its January 10 sanctions on Russia's oil sector, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control gave Gazprom Neft 45 days to exit ownership of NIS. On March 19, NIS sought a 30-day waiver of the sanctions, an extension of the first reprieve approved on Feb 27, to secure more time to find a solution with the Russian companies. On February 26, Gazprom Neft transferred stakes of around 5.15% in NIS to Gazprom in an attempt to ward off sanctions. The transfer follows a similar change in 2022 when the company avoided EU sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Gazprom Neft now owns 44.85% of NIS, while Gazprom has 11.3%. The Serbian government holds 29.87%, and small shareholders the rest. NIS imports about 80% of its needs through Croatian pipeline operator Janaf, with the remainder covered by its own crude oil production in Serbia.
Reuters
27-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Serbia expects another sanctions waiver from US for oil company NIS, official says
BELGRADE, March 27 (Reuters) - Serbian oil company NIS ( opens new tab, majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft ( opens new tab and Gazprom ( opens new tab, is likely to get a last-minute, 30-day extension to its waiver from U.S. sanctions, the CEO of state gas company Srbijagas said on Thursday. The previous waiver is due to expire at midnight, and if it is not extended NIS could face crude supply cuts. NIS operates the only oil refinery in Serbia, which has annual capacity of 4.8 million tons and covers most of the Balkan country's needs. "There will be more delays of sanctions ... , but we cannot expect more than 30 days," Srbijagas CEO Dusan Bajatovic told Belgrade-based Pink TV. He did not say how he knew this information. Bajatovic is a member of Serbia's co-ruling Socialist party and Srbijagas is also a trade partner of Gazprom. NIS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. As part of its January 10 sanctions on Russia's oil sector, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control gave Gazprom Neft 45 days to exit ownership of NIS. On March 19, NIS sought a 30-day waiver of the sanctions, an extension of the first reprieve approved on Feb 27, to secure more time to find a solution with the Russian companies. On February 26, Gazprom Neft transferred stakes of around 5.15% in NIS to Gazprom in an attempt to ward off sanctions. The transfer follows a similar change in 2022 when the company avoided EU sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Gazprom Neft now owns 44.85% of NIS, while Gazprom has 11.3%. The Serbian government holds 29.87%, and small shareholders the rest. NIS imports about 80% of its needs through Croatian pipeline operator Janaf, with the remainder covered by its own crude oil production in Serbia.
Reuters
19-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Serbia seeks sanctions waiver from US for oil company NIS, again
BELGRADE, March 19 (Reuters) - Serbian oil company NIS ( opens new tab, majority-owned by Russian Gazprom Neft ( opens new tab and Gazprom ( opens new tab, has submitted a second request to the U.S. for a waiver of sanctions, the CEO of state gas company Srbijagas said on Wednesday. The sanctions could result in crude supply cuts for NIS, which operates a single oil refinery in Serbia with annual capacity of 4.8 million tons that covers most of the Balkan country's needs. The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) initially placed sanctions on Russia's oil sector on January 10, and gave Gazprom Neft 45 days to exit ownership of NIS. "Through their (NIS) lawyers, ... they have informed OFAC they were seeking a delisting from the sanctions list," Srbijagas CEO Dusan Bajatovic told RTS public broadcaster. Srbijagas is also partnered with Gazprom. After the first request by NIS for a sanctions waiver on February 4, the OFAC delayed sanctions for 30 days on February 27 to allow the company to find a solution with the Russian companies. "We all know that whatever we do, we can't finish it in 30 days," Bajatovic said, indicating the time frame was insufficient for the company to make the adjustments needed. On February 26, Gazprom Neft transferred stakes of around 5.15% in NIS to Gazprom in an attempt to ward off sanctions. Bajatovic said on Wednesday that such a move should have been sufficient to secure removal of sanctions. The changes mean Gazprom Neft no longer has an absolute majority in NIS. They follow a similar change in 2022 when the company avoided EU sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. It was unclear whether a similar move would satisfy U.S. authorities. Gazprom Neft now owns 44.85% of NIS, while Gazprom has 11.3%. The Serbian government holds a further 29.87% of stakes, with small shareholders accounting for the remainder. NIS imports about 80% of its needs through Croatia's pipeline operator Janaf, while the remainder is covered by its own crude oil production in Serbia. In 2024, the two companies agreed over the transport of 10 million tons of crude oil by December 2026. Last week, Croatia's economy minister Ante Susnjar said Janaf was mulling the purchase of entire Russia's stake in NIS.
