Serbia will ratify its oil and gas agreement with Russia once a new parliament is elected and a new cabinet takes office, Russian news agency ITAR-TASS reported on April 4.

As reported earlier, Serbia called snap elections for May 11 after the fragile governmental coalition led by prime minister Vojislav Kostunica collapsed over disagreements on ways to handle the Kosovo crisis.

On January 25, most ministers from the president's bloc – the Democratic Party and G17+ - rejected the proposal of Kostunica for a framework energy agreement with Russia. The agreement was nevertheless signed in Moscow on January 25.

The press service of president Boris Tadic said that the government performed only technical functions and that the ratification procedures can only be carried out by the executive and legislative, to be formed after May 11 elections.

Tadic expressed confidence that the new government and parliament alike would ratify the project because it was beneficial to Serbia, Russia and its citizens.