Serbia aims to sign a new long-term gas supply agreement with Russia’s Gazprom in October, the head of state-owned supplier Srbijagas said on September 23, pushing back a deadline that had been set for the end of September.

Serbia, which imported about 3bn cubic metres of Russian gas in 2024, remains among the most energy-dependent countries in Europe. Access to discounted Russian supplies underpins the affordability of household bills and helps sustain its industry, a key political priority for President Aleksandar Vucic.

CEO Dusan Bajatovic told public broadcaster RTS that a three-year contract would be signed next month. In the meantime, Serbia will continue receiving gas under the terms of its existing arrangement, which was temporarily extended back in May.

“No increase in gas prices for households is planned, and any difference will be covered by Srbijagas. Serbia’s gas supply is not under threat,” Bajatovic said, adding that national storage facilities were already 90% full, enough for three to five months of demand.

The current contract provides Serbia with 6.1mn cubic metres of gas per day at €290 per 1,000 cubic metres – a price well below European market rates. The temporary deal allowed Belgrade to top up storage at the Banatski Dvor facility, half of which is Russian-owned, and to secure additional capacity in neighbouring Hungary.

Vucic met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing earlier this month, telling reporters that energy remained the most important area of cooperation with Moscow. Putin, in turn, said Russia remained the guarantor of Serbia’s energy security, meeting around 85% of the country’s gas needs.

The deal highlights Belgrade’s delicate balancing act. As an EU candidate country, Serbia faces pressure from Brussels to diversify energy imports and curb reliance on Russian fossil fuels following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Serbia has begun to take steps in that direction. A long-delayed interconnector with Bulgaria, completed in 2023, enables Belgrade to import gas from Azerbaijan and Greece’s Alexandroupolis LNG terminal, with annual capacity of 1.8bn cubic metres – the potential to meet around 60% of Serbia’s demand.

Additional pipeline projects with North Macedonia and Romania are planned, but Russian gas will remain central to Serbia’s energy mix for the foreseeable future.

For Moscow, maintaining Serbia as a preferential gas customer is also strategic. Beyond Serbia and the Serb entity in Bosnia, Republika Srpska, Russia has few allies in the Balkans. Energy dependency remains one of its most effective tools of influence in the region, even as Belgrade continues to hedge between Russia, the West and China.