Serbia hopes to negotiate a new extension of its agreement on the supply of Russian gas, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said after a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, quoted by Agence France-Presse.
Belgrade is also seeking a longer-term contract. Serbia remains heavily dependent on Russian gas but has failed to reach a long-term agreement since its previous three-year contract expired in the summer of 2025. Since then, supplies have been secured through a series of short-term extensions.
"The gas supply agreement expires on September 30. "I believe that after today's conversation it will be extended and we will ensure stable gas supplies," Vucic wrote on Instagram after the conversation with Putin.
According to him, Serbia will continue to receive gas at a "good and low price of 318 euros per 1,000 cubic meters", instead of paying the market price, which he currently says is 868 euros.
Despite its aspiration for EU membership, Serbia remains one of the few European countries that maintains close relations with the Kremlin after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Belgrade is also facing US sanctions against Serbia's largest oil company, the Serbian Oil Company NIS, due to the majority Russian participation in it.
In order to lift the sanctions, Washington is demanding that Russian participation in the company be completely terminated. Negotiations have been underway for months to sell Russia's 56% stake in the Hungarian oil company MOL.
The last exemption from US sanctions expires on September 30. This is also the deadline set by Washington to complete the deal.
"We also discussed the issue of the Serbian oil company NIS in the hope of finding a good solution for both sides," Vucic said.
The conversation with Putin is among Vucic's last diplomatic contacts as president, after he announced that he would resign tomorrow. Vucic intends to run for prime minister in early parliamentary elections called after nearly two years of anti-corruption protests started by students.