Vučić: Azerbaijan halts gas deliveries to Serbia

(Patria) - Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić says he received notification from Azerbaijan today that Serbia, "due to force majeure," can no longer count on 1.7 million cubic meters of gas, the amount that country had been delivering on a daily basis.

- We received notification from Azerbaijan that due to force majeure, the problems they are having, as of today we can no longer count on the 1.7 million cubic meters of gas that was arriving every day in our country - Vučić said after a meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard Verma in Belgrade.

He added that Serbia will today begin to use its reserves "much more and more seriously."

- Now it turns out it was smart that we were building up reserves. I hope they will fix this in a month or two. If not, count on us having to add and use up reserves in the next four months. There will be no shortage of gas, nor of oil - Vučić assured.

Azerbaijan's decision comes a day after the U.S. placed the Petroleum Industry of Serbia on its sanctions list, insisting that Russia withdraw from ownership in this company.

Serbia signed an agreement with Azerbaijan on natural gas deliveries in September 2024 as part of efforts to diversify supply sources and reduce dependence on Russian gas, which it had predominantly relied on for more than a quarter of a century.

Azerbaijani gas is delivered to Serbia via a new gas pipeline to Bulgaria, which was partially financed with EU funds. The pipeline was put into trial operation in December 2023.