Vucic spoke about alternatives to Russian gas

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic noted that the country has no other source of gas except Russia. He said this against the background of the introduction of a phased EU ban on the transit of Russian gas.

"How can we build our new gas interconnector if it no longer works towards Romania? How can it be built, create a reverse section in the direction of Hungary so that gas can return, and not only go to Hungary, create an interconnector with Northern Macedonia? And when we do all this, we don't know where we'll get so much gas from if it's not Russian," the Tanjug news agency quoted Vucic as saying.

Vucic explained that even if the new gas pipeline is successfully built, Belgrade will have to face the problem of significantly increasing the cost of gas by 30-40%. The Serbian president added that the country currently consumes 2.7 billion cubic meters of gas per year, and in the future the demand may increase to 3 billion cubic meters.

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On the same day, it was reported that the EU Council approved the proposal of the European Commission (EC) to ban gas purchases in Russia from January 1, 2028. In addition, the EU has also decided to impose a ban on the transit of Russian gas through the union to other countries. This measure will take effect on January 1, 2026.

Later, Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Jedovic-Handanovic said that the country was in an almost hopeless situation after the decision of the Council of the European Union to ban the transit of Russian gas. However, despite the complexity of the situation, Djedovic-Handanovic stressed that Belgrade is counting on the help of its president Aleksandar Vucic and his "excellent relations with world leaders."

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