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Energy agreement between Serbia, Russia must be ratified soon
Saint Petersburg,
7 June 2008
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic stated following a meeting with chairman of Gazprom executive board Aleksey Miler that there is a wide consensus in Serbia on the need to ratify the energy agreement between Serbia and Russia.
Saint Petersburg
Djelic, who is taking part in the 12th International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg, told the Tanjug news agency that he believes the next key step is to ratify the energy agreement as soon as possible.
He added that he told Miler that as soon as the new parliament and government are formed, the agreement will be ratified. Hopefully, this will happen before the summer, or in September at the latest, he added.
Minister of Trade and Services Predrag Bubalo, State Secretary of Economy Jasna Matic and general director of the Serbian oil industry Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) Milos Saramandic also took part in the meeting, as well as general director of Gazprom Export Aleksandar Medvedev. The meeting looked at the construction of the underground gas storage facility in Banatski Dvor.
We told them that a new tender for crude oil to the amount of one million tonnes will be put out by the end of June, said Djelic and voiced belief that Gazprom Neft will take part in the tender.
He said that the next step is to draw-up the first draft of the agreement between NIS and Gazprom Neft in the next two or three weeks and accelerate all activities to form a joint company between Gazprom and Srbijagas.
As for the ratification of the energy agreement, Djelic stressed that it is up to the next government to ratify it.
In the past several years we were able to count on Russia’s support economically and it is up to us to show that we are a reliable partner, stressed the Deputy Prime Minister.
Djelic said that Serbia’s interest coincides with Russia’s goal, and that is to have Gazprom Neft investing in Serbia as soon as possible, and added that these investments are to ensure that Serbia’s refineries in Pancevo and Novi Sad will become competitive.
He explained that this will lower the price of oil for citizens and industry and that once the oil derivatives market is liberalised in 2011, Serbia will be able to export oil derivatives instead of import them.
We are talking here about hundreds of millions of euros of something which will be either import or export, and from the current 3.2 million tonnes, which is our current processing capacity, it is quite possible that in two or three years we may start processing up to seven million tonnes in our refineries, he said.
Djelic also noted that he met with several Austrian ministers on the fringes of the forum, and talked with them mostly about the South Stream gas pipe line, as Austria is extremely interested in the project.
Djelic said that the Serbian delegation also met with owners of Promsvyazbank, one of the largest 10 banks in Russia, whose shareholders have considerable investments in information technologies.
They are interested in both sectors in the Serbian and Balkan markets, which is why they expressed interest in the privatisation of Serbian banks and investments in information technologies, added Djelic.
According to him, the fact that the Moscow bank has been granted a licence to operate in Serbia is an incentive to other Russian banks to take an interest in a market where some Russian banks already do business.
He said that the participation of Serbia’s delegation in forums and summits, such as this one in Saint Petersburg, is important since it enables contacts with the elite of the Russian and international business world and politics.
Djelic said that during a meeting with general director of Aeroflot Valery Okulov they confirmed Aeroflot’s interest in the privatisation of Jat Airways.
He informed Okulov about developments since their last meeting at the investment forum in Sochi last October and particularly about the solution to the issue of ownership over the platform in Surcin at the Nikola Tesla airport and the working resolution achieved between Jat Airways on the one side, and the airport and Jat Tehnika on the other.
He told Okulov that by end-June Serbia will prepare all the necessary elements to formally put out a tender for the sale of the majority package of Jat Airways capital.
He said that it is important that Aeroflot is interested in turning Belgrade into a regional air transport hub and that as a company, which last year had a profit of $350 million; it is able to finance the development of the Serbian company making it an important and potentially serious candidate for strategic partnership with Jat.
As to whether the airport might be sold together with Jat, Djelic said that this is not the subject of the transaction and that Serbia will not privatise the majority share of the airport’s capital.
The Russian air company drafted a business plan for seven years, in which investments are clearly stated and our ideas coincide quite a lot – that Belgrade should be a regional hub, and that a new fleet must primarily contain smaller planes which would travel more frequently, and not large planes travelling less, explained Djelic.
During the stay in Saint Petersburg, where the Serbian delegation is attending 12th International Economic Forum, they reached agreement with heads of Gazprom and Gazprom Neft, as well as Aeroflot, to visit Serbia in mid-June, when further issues will be discussed.
According to him, during his stay in Saint Petersburg, he will also meet with Fiat representatives.
Bubalo said that Russia is fully prepared to start with the realisation of what is stated in the agreement, and added that the main issue is ratification by the Serbian parliament.
The Minister added that the forum is an opportunity to meet many important people from the political and business world and added that he met with Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina, Minister of Traffic Igor Levitin and owner of the Basic Element Oleg Deripaska.
He said that Levitin voiced interest in participating in a number of traffic and infrastructure projects, such as the privatisation of Jat Airways, the construction of the cargo centre and others.
He added that he talked about RTB Bor and the energy system with Deripaska and his associates.
He added that he told Miler that as soon as the new parliament and government are formed, the agreement will be ratified. Hopefully, this will happen before the summer, or in September at the latest, he added.
Minister of Trade and Services Predrag Bubalo, State Secretary of Economy Jasna Matic and general director of the Serbian oil industry Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) Milos Saramandic also took part in the meeting, as well as general director of Gazprom Export Aleksandar Medvedev. The meeting looked at the construction of the underground gas storage facility in Banatski Dvor.
We told them that a new tender for crude oil to the amount of one million tonnes will be put out by the end of June, said Djelic and voiced belief that Gazprom Neft will take part in the tender.
He said that the next step is to draw-up the first draft of the agreement between NIS and Gazprom Neft in the next two or three weeks and accelerate all activities to form a joint company between Gazprom and Srbijagas.
As for the ratification of the energy agreement, Djelic stressed that it is up to the next government to ratify it.
In the past several years we were able to count on Russia’s support economically and it is up to us to show that we are a reliable partner, stressed the Deputy Prime Minister.
Djelic said that Serbia’s interest coincides with Russia’s goal, and that is to have Gazprom Neft investing in Serbia as soon as possible, and added that these investments are to ensure that Serbia’s refineries in Pancevo and Novi Sad will become competitive.
He explained that this will lower the price of oil for citizens and industry and that once the oil derivatives market is liberalised in 2011, Serbia will be able to export oil derivatives instead of import them.
We are talking here about hundreds of millions of euros of something which will be either import or export, and from the current 3.2 million tonnes, which is our current processing capacity, it is quite possible that in two or three years we may start processing up to seven million tonnes in our refineries, he said.
Djelic also noted that he met with several Austrian ministers on the fringes of the forum, and talked with them mostly about the South Stream gas pipe line, as Austria is extremely interested in the project.
Djelic said that the Serbian delegation also met with owners of Promsvyazbank, one of the largest 10 banks in Russia, whose shareholders have considerable investments in information technologies.
They are interested in both sectors in the Serbian and Balkan markets, which is why they expressed interest in the privatisation of Serbian banks and investments in information technologies, added Djelic.
According to him, the fact that the Moscow bank has been granted a licence to operate in Serbia is an incentive to other Russian banks to take an interest in a market where some Russian banks already do business.
He said that the participation of Serbia’s delegation in forums and summits, such as this one in Saint Petersburg, is important since it enables contacts with the elite of the Russian and international business world and politics.
Djelic said that during a meeting with general director of Aeroflot Valery Okulov they confirmed Aeroflot’s interest in the privatisation of Jat Airways.
He informed Okulov about developments since their last meeting at the investment forum in Sochi last October and particularly about the solution to the issue of ownership over the platform in Surcin at the Nikola Tesla airport and the working resolution achieved between Jat Airways on the one side, and the airport and Jat Tehnika on the other.
He told Okulov that by end-June Serbia will prepare all the necessary elements to formally put out a tender for the sale of the majority package of Jat Airways capital.
He said that it is important that Aeroflot is interested in turning Belgrade into a regional air transport hub and that as a company, which last year had a profit of $350 million; it is able to finance the development of the Serbian company making it an important and potentially serious candidate for strategic partnership with Jat.
As to whether the airport might be sold together with Jat, Djelic said that this is not the subject of the transaction and that Serbia will not privatise the majority share of the airport’s capital.
The Russian air company drafted a business plan for seven years, in which investments are clearly stated and our ideas coincide quite a lot – that Belgrade should be a regional hub, and that a new fleet must primarily contain smaller planes which would travel more frequently, and not large planes travelling less, explained Djelic.
During the stay in Saint Petersburg, where the Serbian delegation is attending 12th International Economic Forum, they reached agreement with heads of Gazprom and Gazprom Neft, as well as Aeroflot, to visit Serbia in mid-June, when further issues will be discussed.
According to him, during his stay in Saint Petersburg, he will also meet with Fiat representatives.
Bubalo said that Russia is fully prepared to start with the realisation of what is stated in the agreement, and added that the main issue is ratification by the Serbian parliament.
The Minister added that the forum is an opportunity to meet many important people from the political and business world and added that he met with Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina, Minister of Traffic Igor Levitin and owner of the Basic Element Oleg Deripaska.
He said that Levitin voiced interest in participating in a number of traffic and infrastructure projects, such as the privatisation of Jat Airways, the construction of the cargo centre and others.
He added that he talked about RTB Bor and the energy system with Deripaska and his associates.
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