After Moldovagaz accepted to pay US$790 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas in October, anticipating that the further rise in gas prices is not an exaggeration, but stems from the “rules of the competitive market and the price formation rules”, the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić said the gas price calculation formula under which 1,000 cubic meters of gas would cost US$790 from next year is unacceptable, IPN reports, quoting RIA Novosti.

Aleksandar Vučić stated for the local TV channel Prva TV that Moscow suggests that 70% of the gas price should be based on the gas price on the stock exchange, while 30% should be calculated by the formula that is based on the price of oil. Such an approach produces a price of US$ 790 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas. “Who can pay so much money or who can afford such a price?” the President of Serbia asked rhetorically.

Belgrade insists that 70% of the price of gas should be determined by the formula based on the price of oil, while 30% should be the price on the stock exchange. In this case, 1,000 cubic meters of gas would cost US$510. “We yet do not have this money either,” stated Aleksandar Vučić.

Recently, in a news conference held jointly with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, Aleksandar Vučić said that he asked the President of Russia Vladimir Putin to sell them gas cheaper, at the lowest price in Europe, thanking Moscow for ensuring the country’s energy security, according to the Russian news agency.