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BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) Serbia's premier said Sunday that he has secured a deal on Russian natural gas imports that his cash-strapped, internationally isolated republic badly needs to get through the winter.
Mirko Marjanovic, premier of Yugoslavia's main republic, made the announcement after returning from several days of talks in Moscow, state-run media here reported.
''If the Russian government confirms what we have just agreed, and I have received assurances that it will be so, I am convinced that we will have a stable winter,'' Marjanovic said.
The agreement would rearrange Yugoslavia's debts to Russia and set up a way to transport the gas to Serbia, Tanjug news agency reported. That could significantly ease tensions in Yugoslavia and take some of the edge off opposition demands for the resignation of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
NATO air raids in response to Milosevic's Kosovo crackdown left Serbia and its oil refineries badly damaged, without control over Kosovo and under strict sanctions by the West. Serbians have been bracing for winter hardships, including lack of fuel.
The gas would be supplied by Russia's natural gas giant Gazprom, a partially government-owned company. The Russian government is expected to approve the deal Monday.
Russia maintains close ties with Serbia because of shared ethnic and religious roots. Russia was staunchly but unsuccessfully opposed to the NATO bombardment and recently announced willingness to help Yugoslavia repair the damage it left.