On December 21, 2011, Serbian gas monopoly Srbijagas agreed to a ten-year deal with Russian energy giant Gazprom to import Russian natural gas at a discounted price. Under the deal, Gazprom would send five billion cubic meters of gas to Serbia per year. According to a European Parliament study, long-term supply contracts between Russian energy companies, in particular Gazprom, and European importers increase the purchasing country’s dependence on Russian energy supplies by locking in energy purchases for the duration of the contract.