"Loss of investment great damage to Serbia"

"Loss of investment great damage to Serbia"

Stable gas supply in the long run is a crucial issue for Serbia, Antic told the public broadcaster RTS on Tuesday evening.

"All losses relating to the investments in the project to date are marginal compared to the possible loss of the investment of EUR 2.1 billion and the fact that our companies are due to execute the construction works totaling EUR 500 million," Antic said.

"The government has secured required amounts of gas, and there is no reason for worry whether Serbia will have enough gas, and this is crucial," the minister said, adding that no official letter or any kind of confirmation have arrived from Russia's state-controlled gas exporter Gazprom, which is the main investor, to state the abandonment of the project.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in Ankara on Monday that Russia cannot continue the South Stream construction project since the EU opposes it.

Alexei Miller, Gazprom chief executive, said afterward that the South Stream project is closed, and that Russia will build a new gas pipeline to Turkey.

Antic said that Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban had a telephone conversation on Tuesday about the latest developments regarding the South Stream project.

We are monitoring and analyzing the situation and hope that once the prime minister returns from a session of the UN Security Council we will hold consultations and define our position. The prime minister spoke to Orban earlier on Tuesday and I suppose that the positions will be harmonized on the regional level, Antic said.

He said that no one views this decision as final, but rather as an issue which can be discussed further.

Asked whether Serbia will have the right to revise the energy agreement with Russia, Antic said that he would rather not take a negative stance and consider that option yet.

He noted that the energy agreement signed with Russia in January 2008 comprised three projects - construction of the South Stream leg through Serbia, construction of the underground gas storage facility in Banatski Dvor and privatization of Serbian state-owned oil company NIS, which are not interdependent.

"The South Stream was our priority, but it was not the only option. All this time we have been working on the gas interconnection projects with our neighbors, the most important of which is the interconnection with Bulgaria, " Antic said, adding that there is an optional gas supply from Hungary and western Europe.

"The citizens should not be worried," Antic said.