Bajatovic: Crisis in Ukraine will not affect gas price

KOPAONIK - The crisis in Ukraine is not affecting the gas price in Serbia, Srbijagas CEO Dusan Bajatovic said on Wednesday, adding that gas reserves are enough for households during this heating season.

"I could not say this for the industry, and in that sense we will have to consider other options. Srbijagas has filled the Banatski Dvor storage, together with Gazprom, and these are paid gas reserves," Bajatovic told reporters on the sidelines of the Kopaonik Business Forum, and underlined that the basic gas supply is not at risk.

Bajatovic said that there would be problems, if there were long-term disruptions in the supply from Ukraine, and that potential emergency gas supplies could be "drawn" from the leading gas hub in Europe.

"Now, there are some gas surpluses because of increased deliveries via Yamal (gas pipeline), and that is the gas running across Belarus and Poland to Germany, and in that sense Nord Stream is practically working at additional capacity and this gas could end in Baumgarten which is the leading gas hub, from which we could then obtain emergency gas supplies," Bajatovic explained.