Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has stressed on September 12, 2016, that he does not understand a statement made by a senior official of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On the same day the german official, Michael Roth, who was in Belgrade, said that «if Serbia is determined to be a part of the European Union and not of Russia, then Germany supports it in this direction.»
«Serbia and Russia are traditional friends, but when did Serbia express its intention to become a part of Russia? What kind of vulgarization of Serbia's foreign policy is this?,» serbian foreign minister Dacic asked in a statement issued by his ministry.
The minister added that while he was «very pleased with the development of bilateral relations and the support of Germany» he considered Roth's words «inappropriate and offensive, to say the least.»
On September 13, 2016 at the Gazprom headquarters took place a working meeting between Gazprom´s CEO Alexey Miller and Slavenko Terziс, Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia in Russia.
In 2013, a long-term contract was inked for Russian gas supplies to Serbia for the period of 10 years. In 2015, Gazprom delivered 1.7 billion cubic meters of gas to Serbia, which was 23.6% higher than in 2014.
As of September 12, 2016, Russian gas supplies to Serbia have grown by 6.3% against 2015.
The parties discussed bilateral cooperation in the gas sector, focusing, among other things, on the Banatski Dvor UGS facility (Gazprom – 51%, Srbijagas – 49%), one of the largest such facilities in southeastern Europe.
Gazprom continues to actively prepare the facility for the upcoming autumn/winter period. Gas injection operations are going according to schedule.
Alexey Miller and Slavenko Terziс addressed the prospects for cooperation in such fields as oil refining, power generation, use of gas as a vehicle fuel, and small-scale LNG supplies.
In the meantime a source in the Serbian Foreign Ministry told that Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic plans to visit Russia on October 12, 2016, to open a Serbian honorary consulate in St. Petersburg.
