It is already known that the main topic at the upcoming meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his guest, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, will be the price of gas, and the only question is whether on November 25 the hosts will include our country in the ranks of privileged countries. contracts have a much better price than the current market.
Photo Presidency of Serbia
Since Belarus, Armenia, China and some other European countries will pay the old price for gas in 2022, we hope that President Putin will understand the request to include Serbia, which is a strategic partner of Russia and a friendly country in every sense, among the privileged.
Russian media have already announced their wishes for the president of friendly Serbia to arrive in Sochi. In the negotiations so far, the representatives of “Gazprom” have proposed that the future price list be formed by making 70 percent of the stock exchange price of gas, and 30 percent according to the oil formula. When that is added up, the price for a thousand cubic meters of gas would be 790 dollars instead of 270, which is what we are paying now. Serbia now buys 100 percent of the gas according to the oil formula that has been used since Soviet times. One of the variants is to pay 30 percent of the stock exchange price and 70 percent according to the oil formula, which means that Serbia would pay around 510 dollars for a thousand cubic meters, which is also almost twice as much as before.
President Vučić openly and honestly said that the proposed price is too high for us and that is why he is personally going to Russia to ask Putin to keep the old, oil calculation formula for Serbia, at least until the end of the heating season. What kind of agreement will be reached in Sochi, will be known on Thursday after the meeting of the two statesmen and friends.
In addition to asking for the most favorable possible price, President Vučić also announced a request to increase the volume, ie the amount of gas for Serbia, because we are now spending twice as much as in some previous years. Serbia buys exclusively Russian gas, which until recently arrived via Ukraine and Hungary, and from January 1 via Bulgaria via the “Turkish Stream” gas pipeline.
In the first stage, Serbia will receive about four billion cubic meters a year through this gas pipeline, which will cover all the needs of industry and households. According to the project, 12.4 billion cubic meters of gas for Serbia and the countries of the European Union should pass through the “Turkish Stream” gas pipeline annually.
Russia does not sell its precious blue energy to all countries at the same price, and the cheapest gas in Europe this year was paid by Belarus. For one of the closest Russian allies, a thousand cubic meters of gas costs only 128 dollars, which is a big “gift” at this moment, when the prices on the market are wild. It is no secret that the painful negotiations between the management of “Gazprom” and Belarus have been going on in recent years, and one of the reasons was the high debt of Belarus for the already consumed gas. Vladimir Putin ruled, and the Russian president announced on September 9 that the price for Belarus will remain the same in 2022. It is known that the leadership of “Gazprom” planned to raise the price of gas for Belarus, but Putin did not allow that because he is aware that this friendly and allied country would find itself in a difficult economic situation. Hence, it can be said that the Belarusians can only thank Putin for having the cheapest gas in Europe.
From the former Soviet republics and Armenia, they received blue energy from Russia at a reduced tariff, but still twenty percent more expensive than in Belarus.
Of all the Western European countries, Germany pays the lowest price of gas to the Russians. Because they have long-term contracts with “Gazprom” and “Novatek”, the Germans pay 270 dollars for a thousand cubic meters of gas. German companies have various discounts, because they are in partnership with Russian gas giants.
Almost two decades ago, Western Europe set a goal to terminate long-term gas purchase contracts linked to the price of oil on the world market. According to that principle, the USSR also sold gas. For example, if the price of a barrel of oil is 70 to 75 dollars, a thousand cubic meters of gas is from 250 to 300 dollars. According to that formula, gas is bought by Turkey. In the EU, they thought that it was more profitable for them to buy gas at stock exchange prices, but this year they jumped by as much as 300 percent. Because they persistently do not want to buy gas according to the “oil formula”, they buy the most expensive blue energy from the Russians in Great Britain. Experts predict that if this winter is very cold, gas prices could jump up to three thousand dollars per thousand cubic meters.
AP Photo
As for Asia, China buys Russian gas at the best price, which pays only 171 dollars for a thousand cubic meters of blue fuel. “Gazprom” delivers gas to Asia through the “Power of Siberia” pipelines, and this energy giant signed a long-term contract with China for 30 years in 2014. By comparison, Turkmenistan sells gas to China for $ 238.
Serbia, as an ally of Russia, which did not give in to the powerful pressures of the West to impose sanctions on them, could certainly expect the understanding and price of “Gazprom”, which will be in relation to most European countries.
RESERVES FOR 100 YEARS
In mid-September, the president of “Gazprom”, Alexei Miller, stated that the gas reserves in Russia are the largest in the world and that there are enough of them for the next 100 years.
– Some of the gas fields on Yamal will be used until 2132. That is why the prospects for filling the gas pipeline are very good – said Miller.
Among the world’s companies, Gazprom has the largest reserves in the world, it owns 16 percent, and in Russia it owns 70 percent of blue energy reserves.
TURKMENIA NEEDS GAS PIPELINES
Turkmenistan’s leadership is ready to increase the production of blue energy that would supply Asia. But for the plans to materialize, a pipeline network must be built, which is now missing. At the moment, there are gas pipelines to Russia and China, which is not enough to make the most of the potentials of that former Soviet republic.
GIANTS
According to OPEC, Iran, Qatar, the United States and Turkmenistan have the largest gas reserves after Russia. Russia owns 24 percent of the world’s reserves. According to the data of “British Petroleum”, Russia has the largest reserves of blue energy.
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