Belgrade - Serbia would receive urgent deliveries of gas from Germany and Hungary over at least eight days starting Friday, the national gas company Srbijagas said. The Balkan country, hit hard by the Russia-Ukraine gas row because it has virtually no reserves, would draw a total of 4.7 million cubic metres from Hungary and Germany.
"Last night a deal was made guaranteeing that we will receive 2.7 million cubic metres of gas from Germany and and additional 2 million from Hungary," the Srbijagas head Dusan Bajatovic said.
Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Ferenc Gyurcsany announced the gas agreement with Serbia on Thursday, while a spokesman for the Essen- based German E.ON Ruhrgas confirmed the deal with Serbia on Friday.
Already on Thursday afternoon gas arrived in some heating plants, first in those nearest to Serbia's northern border, with Hungary.
President Boris Tadic on Friday also announced an agreement with Austria to draw an additional 2-3 million cubic metres of gas.
Serbia uses around 10 million cubic metres of gas on a winter day, so the emergency shipments - with roughly 1 million cubic metres from domestic sources - would allow it to keep the system running and covering priorities.
Hundreds of thousands of people on remote heating systems and individual users throughout Serbia were left without heating in the freezing weather Wednesday and Thursday.
Unlike other countries in the region, with the exception of Bosnia, Serbia has virtually no gas reserves - the disruption in supply brutally exposed it, leaving homes freezing and forcing a crash shutdown of the gas-dependent industry.
Russia this week turned off the supply through pipelines traversing Ukraine, accusing Kiev of stealing gas intended for western Europe.
