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Global energy crisis exacerbating at incredible speed, Serbian president says

Aleksandar Vucic pointed out that the energy situation in the Balkan region is desperate

BELGRADE, December 11. /TASS/. The energy situation both around the world and in the Balkans is deteriorating at an unbelievable speed, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said after a meeting with military top brass in Nic on Saturday.

"Things are getting harder, as Europe is facing a shortage of 70 billion cubic meters of gas. China buys everything - it buys coal and gas from Africa, from South America, from all over the world, and in any amounts. Things are getting more complicated, and everything is happening at an incredible speed before our eyes. If we do not notice it, then we not serious and responsible enough."

Vucic pointed out that the energy situation in the Balkan region is desperate.

"Yesterday, we sold energy at 499 euros for 1 MW per hour to one of our neighbors, while it had cost us 52 euros, in other words, we sold ten times the price. There is no electricity on the market, so they had to buy it ten times the price from us. In the region, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania - they daily buy electricity at 350-400 euros for 50-60% of the required amount," Vucic said.

Following talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic in Sochi on November 25, Moscow guaranteed that the gas price for Belgrade would remain at $270 per 1,000 cubic meters in the next six months and promised to offer "exceptional" terms, as Vucic described them, under the long-term contract later on.

Gazprom has been supplying gas to Serbia along a new route since January 1, 2021. Gas is pumped from Russia via the sea-bottom Turk Stream pipeline and further on across Turkey and Bulgaria.

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