General Director of public enterprise Srbijagas Dusan Bajatovic announced Friday that the pumping of Russian gas into the underground storage Banatski Dvor should start around the middle of March.

Banatski Dvor is already holding 250 million cubic meters of gas, Bajatovic said and added that the Russian partner will pump in another 100 million.

This would complete the gas cushion needed to maintain the storage, he said while visiting the works on the high pressure gas pipeline Kula-Odzaci.

Bajatovic announced that the Russians could start pumping in 250 million cubic meters of gas for commercial purposes as early as May, and Srbijagas has already paid for the delivery.

He announced that Srbijagas could soon start purchasing gas from central Asia for the needs of consumers in Serbia.

"If we solve the problem of transport costs, we will be able offer somewhat cheaper gas for the industry," Bajatovic added.

Talking about the South Stream gas pipeline, he reminded that a feasibility study has been done for the EUR 1.3 billion project, and the pipeline's capacity through Serbia should be 40 billion cubic meters.

The high pressure gas pipeline Kula-Odzaci, which the Srbijagas management visited Friday, will total 23.5 kilometers and the investment is worth EUR 4 million.