Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić will ask Russian President Vladimir Putin for a super favorable price for gas today, and a favorable outcome would greatly benefit Vučić and his party ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections, writes today's Moscow daily Komersant.
"From the negotiations in Sochi, Serbia expects a very favorable price for Russian gas," the newspaper quoted unnamed sources in the leadership of Serbia as saying.
Dnevnik writes that informed sources in Belgrade believe that the President of Serbia could have received confirmation from the Russian side about a favorable price for gas before his visit and that he now "intends to present it as his own success".
Indeed, in October, Vučić met in Belgrade with the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergey Lavrov, and the vice-president of the Russian government, Yuri Borisov, who is the co-president of the Russian-Serbian intergovernmental commission.
After the meeting with the President of Serbia, Borisov promised that Russia will deliver gas to Serbia at favorable prices, regardless of the energy crisis in Europe, the paper reminds.
"A 'gas gift' from Russia would be very welcome to Vučić. In the spring, presidential and parliamentary elections will be held simultaneously in Serbia, where the current president is counting not only on being re-elected, but also on a convincing victory for his Serbian Progressive Party," assesses Kommersant.
The paper adds that the image of the leader who received from Russia "the lowest price for gas in all of Europe" will also contribute to this.
Komersant also writes that the Serbian opposition is already accusing Vučić of having to pay the price for gas through political concessions.
In addition to gas, political issues will also be discussed in Sochi, primarily the situation in Kosovo and the Balkans as a whole.
And this is where the Serbian and Russian approaches do not quite match, although Vučić regularly thanks Moscow for his support, writes Komersant.
The newspaper adds that after the meeting in Sochi, the Serbian president will participate in the democracy summit organized by US President Joseph Biden, to which Russia was not invited.
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