PM says he discussed "gas supplies from U.S."

PM says he discussed "gas supplies from U.S."

Vucic confirmed that he discussed with U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden "alternative ways of supplying Serbia with gas from that country," because, as he said, he must make sure that Serbia has "energy security."

The prime minister said it would be "best to have competition so that we can choose."

"We did not close the door on anyone, we are open and willing to hear any suggestions from both American and Russian governments," Vucic said, and then complained, in an apparent reference to last spring's floods:

"Nobody said, 'well done Vucic, after such a disaster we did not increase the price of electricity'. No country has had fewer power outages than us. And the gas supply is excellent."

The prime minister pointed out that he was "not thinking about a 24-hour policy," but was instead "interested in what will be three, four or five years."

Vucic reiterated that he "regretted very much not being smarter" when it comes to giving concessions for highway construction, an area in which "the Croats have overtaken us."

He also said that he was confident that Telekom Srbija "will be sold for much more than what we had hoped for" and that the money will be "invested in investments."

Vucic revealed that he expected an agreement on the added capitalization of the Zelezara Smederevo steelworks to be concluded with the U.S. company Esmark "within 48 hours." Failing that, Serbia will take "complete control of the company," he said.