April 27 (SeeNews) - Russia's Gazprom decision to halt natural gas deliveries to Bulgaria does not impact supplies to Serbia, the Serbian energy ministry said on Wednesday.
In response to sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of the Ukraine invasion, Gazprom on Wednesday halted gas deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria and said they will not resume until payments are received in rubles, instead of US dollars.
Transit deliveries of Russian gas to Serbia and Hungary via the pipeline on Bulgarian territory continue uninterrupted and Bulgaria will fulfill its existing contractual obligations in regard to them, Bulgaria's energy minister Alexander Nikolov said earlier on Wednesday.
In case gas deliveries to Serbia via Bulgaria are halted, Serbia has in place three contingency plans, the first of which is to tap reserves from the Banatski Dvor underground gas storage facility, the Serbian energy ministry said in a statement.
Banatski Dvor reserves can last Serbia 21 days, while Russia's part of the storage facility holds enough natural gas for 22 days of consumption more, energy minister Zorana Mihajlovic explained.
Another option is to substitute gas with an alternative energy source, like fuel oil where possible, she added, without elaborating.
The third alternative is to rent a gas storage facility in a foreign country, like Hungary, and consider natural gas purchases jointly with the European Union, Mihajlovic said.
Serbia currently imports 6 million cubic metres of gas via Bulgaria and consumes some 4.6 million cubic metres per day, Mihajlovic said. During the winter, Serbia's consumption rises to 10-11 million cubic metres of gas daily, she added.
Serbia has a long-term contract with Russia under which it pays $270 (254.4 euro) per 1,000 cubic metres of gas. The contract will expire on May 31.
Mihajlovic said that Serbia will try to either agree on a new contract with Russia, or extend the existing one until the end of 2022.
"When the Nis-Dimitrovgrad pipeline [on the Bulgarian border] is completed, which will happen in September 2023, we can mull contracts with other suppliers," Mihajlovic concluded.