Russia's Gazprom works on new gas supply contract with Serbia, TASS reports

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Kremlin-controlled energy giant Gazprom is working on a new gas supply contract with Serbia, TASS news agency cited Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak as saying on Monday.

Serbia, which historically has close ties to Moscow but also aspires to join the European Union, heavily depends on Russia for natural gas and has been looking to renew the gas supply deal which expired in March.

Russian gas has been supplied to Serbia through the TurkStream pipeline via the Black Sea since 2021. Russia delivered around 3 billion cubic metres of natural gas to Serbia last year.

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic travelled to Russia on May 8 and 9 for a parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. Novak said the new gas contract was discussed at the meeting, TASS reported.

According to Vedomosti newspaper, the CEO of state gas company Srbijagas, Dusan Bajatovic, told Belgrade-based TV Prva over the weekend that the new deal should be signed by May 31 and he expected to visit Moscow this week to discuss it.

The discussions come as the EU plans to fully phase out Russian gas imports by the end of 2027 over the conflict in Ukraine.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Alexandra Hudson)