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EU push to end Russian gas imports major blow to Serbia - officials Valentina Bajic 4–6 minutes _____ Oct 21, 2025, 10:42:37 AMArticle by Valentina Bajic <https://seenews.com/news/authors/615> October 21 (SeeNews) - A decision by the EU energy ministers to support a proposal to phase out Russian gas imports completely by January 1, 2028, brings serious challenges for Serbia, energy minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic, president Aleksandar Vucic, finance minister Sinisa Mali, and parliament speaker Ana Brnabic said. Photo by Gazprom On Monday, the Council of the European Union said in a press release it has approved a plan by the European Commission to ban imports of Russian pipeline gas and LNG as of January 1, 2026, with a transition period for existing short-term contracts, which may continue by June 17, 2026, and long-term contarcts, which may run until January 1, 2028. EU countries will start negotiations with the European Parliament to agree on the final text of the regulation, once the parliament adopts its position, the Council said. In a social media post, Djedovic Handanovic wrote late on Monday: "The bottom line is that Bulgaria will not allow the flow of Russian gas through Balkan Stream, which will also harm Serbia in the future. [...] We hope to find a solution and are doing everything in our power, but the situation is almost hopeless, taking into account the current situation regarding NIS <https://seenews.com/news/serbias-sole-refiner-nis-denied-new-u-s-sanctions-waiver-1282972> ." Serbia mainly imports gas through Balkan Stream - an extension of the Turk Stream pipeline carrying Russian gas to Serbia and Hungary through Bulgaria. Serbia expects to consume about 2.7 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas this year, receiving most of it from Gazprom under an extended <https://seenews.com/news/gazprom-offers-serbia-to-extend-gas-supply-deal-not-new-contract-vucic-1283115> three-year gas supply deal from May, 2022, for the delivery of up to 2.2 billion bcm annually, and also imports <https://seenews.com/news/serbia-signs-gas-import-deals-with-azerbaijan-1239324> about 400 million cubic metres of Azeri gas through the interconnector with Bulgaria. Vucic and Mali, who on Monday evening held a meeting with Hungary's primer minister Viktor Orban in Budapest to discuss key energy issues, commented on the Council's decision in televised interviews with Serbia's public broadcaster RTS. To somewhat cushion the impact of the decision, Serbia would have to complete a planned gas interconnector with North Macedonia <https://seenews.com/news/srbijagas-nomagas-sign-mou-on-serbia-north-macedonia-gas-link-1277871> and to build a reversible phase of the Balkan Stream pipeline so that it could also receive gas via Hungary, Vucic told RTS. But even then "we don't know where to get so much gas from if it's not Russian, and if we manage to find it, the question arises of how we are going to compensate for having to pay a 30-40% higher price," Vucic said. Mali told RTS that the Council's decision is "catastrophic" for Serbia. "Even if you somehow find a solution in a year or two to get gas, that gas will be at least 30-35% more expensive than it is now. That is a big blow to both the economy and households. And just look at the moment in which this is happening. You also have sanctions against NIS, so the imports of crude oil are disabled, and now there is a potential huge problem when it comes to gas," Mali said. "I don't remember to have recently received such serious and bad news for Serbia," Brnabic said of the Council's decision, as seen in a video posted by Tanjug news agency. "This, combined with sanctions on NIS, is killing us," she said. The European Commission introduced in June a legislative proposal to ban imports of Russian gas, looking to strengthen the EU's energy independence and security and cut off Kremlin's revenues, which it said are being used to fund the war in Ukraine. The proposal also includes a halt on imports of Russian crude oil, also as of January 1, 2028. The Commission has also recently presented a 19th package of sanctions against Russia. Serbia, an EU candidate country since 2012, has maintained close ties with the Kremlin and resisted pressure to join the EU sanctions against its traditional ally. But it now finds itself in dire straits: its sole oil refiner NIS, indirectly controlled by Gazprom, is under U.S. sanctions <https://seenews.com/news/serbias-sole-refiner-nis-denied-new-u-s-sanctions-waiver-1282972> , while the EU is is pressing <https://seenews.com/news/u-s-senators-call-on-serbia-to-cut-energy-ties-with-russia-1283372> Belgrade to impose sanctions on Moscow and the U.S. urges <https://seenews.com/news/u-s-senators-call-on-serbia-to-cut-energy-ties-with-russia-1283372> elimination of dependence on Russian energy sources. For its part, Gazprom appears to be preserving its leverage amid uncertainty over NIS, and, according to Vucic <https://seenews.com/news/gazprom-offers-serbia-to-extend-gas-supply-deal-not-new-contract-vucic-1283115> , is delaying a new long-term gas supply deal with Serbia to retain the option of cutting off gas if the Balkan country attempts to nationalise NIS's assets to win lifting of U.S. sanctions - a step Vucic has repeatedly said he is refusing to make. -- http:www.antic.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SERBIAN NEWS NETWORK" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/senet/045101dc4282%241bafa5b0%24530ef110%24%40gmail.com.
