Vladimir Putin and Aleksandar Vučić, the Presidents of the Russian Federation and Serbia, respectively, will have a phone conversation next week which will be key to the gas arrangements between the two countries.

The outcome of this conversation will determine the price Serbia will pay in the future for blue fuel, as well as the terms of the contract.

The current ten-year arrangement runs out on May 31 and the negotiations between the two sides have started at a company level, but the two statesmen are expected to close the deal and specify the conditions under which Serbia will be receiving gas ahead of one of the most uncertain winters in decades, keeping in mind that the world is being shaken by a severe energy product crisis due to the war in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Moscow by the west.

This fact gives additional weight to the conversation, as on one hand Belgrade is being pressured by the open demands from Europe and the United States to join the sanctions against Russia, and on the other hand our country is fully dependent on the gas it receives from the largest country in the world.

So far, Serbia has paid $270 for 1,000 cubic meters of this strategically important energy product. It is estimated that the terms will be impossible to keep, keeping in mind the enormous increase in the price of blue fuel on world markets. Our side is hoping that the Russians will not resort to the extreme measure in which we would be paying between $900 and $1,000 for 1,000 cubic meters of gas, which would be disastrous for Serbian economy.