"Srbijagas" to sign 72m USD worth of contract with "Eon"

The Director General of public company "Srbijagas" from Novi Sad, Dušan Bajatović, said that the contract with German "Eon" for storing 200m cubic meters of gas for Serbia in Hungarian storages would be signed that day (October 15, 2009).

- The value of the contract is 72m USD, and it should be officially signed next week - Bajatović said to the press at trade fair "Energetika 2009" in Belgrade.

As he explained, the contract on formation of joint venture between "Srbijagas" and "Gazprom" for modernization of underground gas storage Banatski Dvor was initialed yesterday in Vienna.

That contract was signed by "Srbijagas", "Gazprom export" and "Gazprom Germania".

According to the words of Bajatović, the gas storage in Banatski Dvor will be finished "on time, in December", and it will be filled with up to 300m cubic meters of gas for use in case of crisis.

Bajatović said that "Srbijagas" would soon realize commercial contract whose value was 170m EUR in order to cover the company's losses in 2008 and provide money for regular purchase of gas in heating season, but he did not specify which institution would grant that loan.

He pointed out that people in "Srbijagas" were doing calculations to check if the price of gas for consumers in Serbia can be decreased.

- It is in our interest to offer gas at lower price and, thus, contribute to growth of consumption, which would cover the losses, because we can not make debts forever - he pointed out.

Bajatović said that "Srbijagas" intended to take over the concession for construction of gas pipeline to Banjaluka through Republic of Srpska.