The government wants to buy cheaper Russian gas through Serbia, Bekteshi says: No problem - we are not negotiating with Gazprom
If an agreement is signed with Serbia, we will purchase gas at at least three to four times lower prices than the stock exchange prices, the Minister of Economy said tonight Kreshnik Bekteshi in the guest appearance in "Top Theme" of "Thelma".
He says that the country is negotiating with "Srbijagas" and not with Russian "Gazprom", with which the Serbian company has a contract for supply at a favorable price through the gas pipeline "Turski Potok".
"The contract for the supply of natural gas is held by the Serbian side, and how it will be technically implemented is their business. Our state's job is to enable legal and technical conditions, appropriate regulations and regulations," says Bekteshi.
According to the minister, now we are not talking about quantities and provision of raw materials, but about price, about how much the supply of natural gas will cost the citizens.
"Negotiations are being conducted and are nearing the end, we have submitted an offer, the expert teams are working to find a solution - for us to meet Serbia for the electricity, and they for us for the natural gas. If there is an agreement, which I am convinced because it has been worked on for more than a month and I communicate daily with their Ministry of Energy, the prices will be much lower than the price on the stock exchange, at least three to four times lower than the stock price. In exchange for that, we will supply Serbia with electricity at more reasonable prices," Bektesi said.
He said that he should not read the agreement between Serbia and "Gazprom"
"We are negotiating with "Srbijagas", not with "Gazprom". I don't need to read the agreement between Serbia and "Gazprom", and that is also a business secret. It is our obligation as a state to provide Serbia's technical and capacity requirements for electricity, and the Serbian Government's obligation is to supply North Macedonia with natural gas," said the minister.
Bekteshi also added that "there will be heating in Skopje this winter, it will not be fuel oil, but gas and it will be cheap".
