Putin and Serbian deputy PM discuss gas contract
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, said that he planned to discuss with Serbian Vice Prime Minister Aleksandar Volin a contract for gas supply that will expire in March 2025. Putin and Vulin met at the Eastern Economic Forum, in Russia's far-eastern port of Vladivostok. Serbia, which NATO bombed during the war in Kosovo in 1999, has historical close ties with Russia, but also aspirations to join the EU. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine 2022, has walked a thin line between condemning Russian military action and refusing to join European sanction against Moscow.
BHP's return in Argentina is a new sign of hope for copper mines that are still untapped
More than half a dozen officials from the mining industry said that a new incentive program for mining in Argentina has attracted major players like BHP. They are now looking to the South American nation as the next frontier for the copper market. BHP's investment in Argentina last month was the first time in 20 years that BHP had invested in mining. The company teamed up in the $3.25billion buyout of Filo Corp with Canada's Lundin Mining with the goal of developing two mines of copper along the Andes Mountains bordering Chile.
Greece's Sole LNG Terminal Ramps Up Imports to Replace Russian Gas
Greece has cut Russian gas imports by more than half this year thanks to increased deliveries from other producers to its sole liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal near Athens, the country's gas grid operator said on Thursday.Greece has relied on Russia for about 40% of its gas needs for years but it has ramped up LNG purchases from other countries in line with a European Union plan to cut dependence on Russian energy. It has been receiving Russian gas via the Turkstream pipeline which also delivers to Hungary via Serbia.Its LNG facility on the Revithoussa islet…
ERE Opens 104MW Windfarm in Serbia
Israel-based renewable energy projects developer Enlight Renewable Energy (ERE) along with its Serbian partner New Energy Solutions has officially opened its Kovacica windfarm in Serbia.The opening ceremony of the Wind farm was held in the municipality of Kovacica in the presence of the Minister of Mining and Energy Aleksandar Antic, Alona Fisher-Kamm the Ambassador of Israel, the Representatives of the owners, ERE, and its Serbian partner, New Energy Solutions.Kovacica clean power plant operates with 38 installed wind turbines…
Serbia's First Large-scale Wind Farm to Start in October
Belgian renewable energy firm Elicio NV said on Friday its 42 megawatt (MW) Alibunar wind farm in northern Serbia will start operating in October and help the Balkan country diversify its energy mix and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.The wind farm, which has 21 wind turbines provided by German wind turbine manufacturer Senvion, is the first large-scale farm to connect on Serbia's grid.
Bosnia Adopts Long-Term Energy Strategy Key to Unlocking EU Funds
Bosnia's central government adopted a long-term energy strategy on Wednesday after years of political wrangling between its two regions, paving the way for major funding from the European Union and other investors."With this act, we completed the adoption of a package of four most important strategies for economic reforms," said Bosnia's Prime Minister Denis Zvizdic."We stopped a negative trend that meant we could not apply for energy projects and lost hundreds of millions of euros of investments and grants…
NIS Reports 30% Fall in Q1 Net Profit
Serbian oil company NIS , majority owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft, on Friday reported a 30 percent drop in net profit for the first quarter of 2018.Net profit declined to 3.7 billion dinars ($37.9 million) from 5.4 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement, giving no explanation for the fall.Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell to 8.9 billion dinars from 11.1 billion a year earlier.One of the biggest contributors to Serbia's budget, NIS operates two refineries and produces 1.7 million tonnes of oil and gas equivalent per year.It operates fields in Serbia…
Serbia, Russia Revive Gas Pipeline Plans
Russia and Serbia have revived an idea of building a gas pipeline in the Balkan country, a project that would enable Gazprom to step up its gas supplies to Europe, bypassing Ukraine. The Serbian pipeline will be linked to Bulgaria and Hungary via two interconnectors to ship Russian gas from the TurkStream pipeline. The Vienna-based Energy Community Secretariat, which transposes EU energy standards to aspiring member states, criticised the project saying the true aim was to bring Russian gas from TurkStream to the Baumgarten hub near Vienna, not to diversify gas supplies to Serbia.
Janaf Strikes Transport Deals Worth $83 Mln
Croatia's oil pipeline operator Janaf said on Monday it had reached transport agreements worth 500 million kuna ($83 million) with Serbia's oil company NIS and Hungary's energy group MOL . The deal with NIS, which is majority owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft, includes transport of oil in 2018, while that with MOL involves transport and storage of oil for 2018 and 2019. Janaf is almost 80 percent owned by the Croatian state and its agencies, while other major shareholders are Croatia's oil group INA and state-owned power board HEP.
Russia Lifts Gas Re-export Ban for Serbia
Russia has dropped the requirement for Serbia to consume its gas only on the domestic market, a Russian government document published on Monday showed, allowing the Balkan state to re-export the fuel. The concession was made ahead of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic in Moscow on Tuesday. Gazprom has made a number of concessions to consumers, including price reductions, as it faces increasing competition form other energy sources, such as liquefied natural gas…
NIS to Spend $2.2 Bln to Boost Production
Serbian oil company NIS plans to invest $2.2 billion in its operations by 2025 and increase production to secure a leading position in south-east Europe. Russia's Gazprom Neft owns 56.15 percent of NIS, the Serbian government 29.88 percent and small shareholders the remainder of the company. NIS said on Friday that its development plan to 2025 forecasts a rise in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) at an average of 4 percent annually. "We are convinced that the strategy ... will be a driving force for the successful development of NIS ...
Construction Starts on Serbian Oil Firm's New Deep Conversion Complex
Serbian oil company NIS, majority owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft, started construction on Monday of a 300 million euro ($352 million) deep conversion complex at its main refinery, which it says will boost efficiency and reduce pollution. The project at the Pancevo refinery is part of the second phase of a Gazprom Neft programme to modernise NIS's refining capacity, which has been ongoing since 2009 and is expected to be completed in 2019. With a capacity of 2,000 tonnes per day, the new facility will enable the refinery's conversion rate…
Hungary Joins Gazprom Pipeline, as Trump Touts US LNG
Hungary signed a deal with Russia's Gazprom to link the country with the Turkish Stream pipeline by end-2019 on Wednesday, a day ahead of President Donald Trump's trip to Poland, where he is expected to promote U.S. LNG exports. "This will improve Hungary's energy security a great deal, so it is in our strategic interest for this cooperation to start," state news agency MTI quoted Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto as saying. Natural gas supplies to eastern Europe have been a major area of competition between incumbent pipeline power Russia and the United States…
EBRD to Lend Up to 50 mln Euros for Serbian Wind Farm
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Wednesday it would lend up to 50 million euros ($53 million) to Serbian company Electrawinds K-Wind to help finance one of the Balkan country's first wind farms. The 104.5 megawatts (MW) project in the northern town of Kovacica, estimated to cost 185 million euros, will be among the first large-scale privately-run wind farms in Serbia. Currently there are no private or state-run wind farms in Serbia but several are in the planning or construction stages.
Bulgaria Gas Group says Gets EU Funds for Gas Hub Study
Bulgaria's gas network operator Bulgartransgaz said it will get financing from the European Union for a feasibility study on a natural gas hub at the Black Sea port of Varna to store and transport Russian and Caspian gas to southeast and central Europe. Sofia's plans for the hub follow the cancellation of Gazprom's South Stream gas pipeline project that would have shipped Russian gas under the Black Sea via Bulgaria to central Europe. The cancellation was a blow to Bulgaria, which relies almost exclusively on Russian gas.
Serbia Should Rework Gazprom Gas Deal
Serbia should renegotiate its long-term gas supply deal with Russia's Gazprom to align it with European gas market rules, a body in charge of extending the EU's energy policy to would-be member states said on Monday. In 2011 Serbia agreed to a 10-year deal to import natural gas from Gazprom at a discounted price under which Gazprom will deliver 5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year to Serbia, or more than double its current annual needs. "The agreement concerned should be renegotiated to remove the illegal destination clause…
Bulgaria, Romania Launch Gas Pipeline
Bulgaria and Romania started a new natural gas pipeline on Friday as part of Sofia's efforts to reduce dependence on Russian gas. The 25-km pipeline, which runs under the Danube River and can operate in either direction, will allow Bulgaria to import gas from Europe. It will also support Bulgaria's bid to create a regional gas hub at the Black Sea port of Varna. "We can achieve a lot with our friends and neighbours from Romania... they are starting operations from today," Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov told an opening ceremony at the Danube river town of Marten.
Oil Company NIS Reports 29% Fall in 9-month Profit
Serbian oil company NIS , majority owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft, said nine-month net profit fell 29 percent to 7.7 billion dinars ($69.15 million), hit by low oil prices. Last year the company reported net profit of 10.9 billion dinars. NIS booked a 30 percent fall in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBIDTA) to 22.5 billion dinars, down from 32.3 billion dinars last year. One of the biggest contributors to Serbia's budget, NIS operates two refineries and produces oil and gas totalling 1.7 million tonnes of oil equivalent per year from fields in Serbia, Angola and Bosnia.
Turkey Sets Import Tax on Thermal Coal
Turkey imposed a tax this week on imports of thermal coal from Colombia, Russia and other major exporters, for use in power generation, to support domestic coal production. The Turkish cabinet decided to impose the tax of $15/tonne on imports from the United States, Colombia, Russia and South Africa on July 18 and announced it in the Official Gazette this week. The tax hits the biggest exporters of thermal coal but does not apply to imports from the European Union, Israel, Macedonia, Bosnia, Morocco…
Serbia's Oil Monopoly Reports Drop in Half-year Profit
Serbian oil company NIS , majority owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft, reported a 38 percent drop in first-half net profit on Wednesday due to low oil prices. The company said in a statement its earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell to 13.2 billion dinars ($119.97 million) from 21 billion dinars in the same period last year. Net profit fell to 3.1 billion dinars from 5 billion in the first six months of 2015. It said its market share in Serbia rose by one percent to 43 percent.
