Vucic spoke about agreements on gas supplies through Bulgaria

Russia agreed with Serbia and Hungary on the issue of payment for gas supplies through Bulgaria, so after the imposition of sanctions against Gazprombank, payments started to be made through another commercial bank. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on December 20.

"Russian friends went towards us and Hungarians. I see that everything has been resolved with Bulgartransgaz as well. When sanctions were imposed against Gazprombank, the Russians said, 'You can pay,' and we paid €49 million through some other commercial bank, not through Gazprombank," the Serbian leader said on Happy TV.

Vucic said that they did not want to be late in paying for gas supplies and always pay all obligations day in day out.

Into the next gas: How the West is trying to replace Russia in the Balkans

Although Moscow remains a reliable fuel supplier for the countries of the region

Earlier, on December 6, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin told journalists on the margins of the Verona Eurasian Economic Forum that Serbia is asking Russia to increase the volume of gas supplies under a new agreement that Moscow and Belgrade are currently working out.

On December 3, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto noted that Hungary has no alternative to gas supplies from Russia, and the calls of EU leaders to abandon it are political propaganda. He pointed out that the country receives Russian gas through the Turkish Stream pipeline and its branches through Bulgaria and Serbia.

Prior to that, on November 15, Maksim Chirkov, associate professor of the Department of Economic Policy and Economic Measurements of the State University of Ukraine, noted the reliability of Russian gas supplies to European countries. He also pointed out that pipeline gas has become more attractive for buyers.

On November 21, the United States imposed sanctions against Gazprombank. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said afterward that Russia was working on retaliatory measures. He called it impossible to completely block measures against Russia and promised that a solution would be found soon.