"EPS in trouble, but not for sale"

BELGRADE Serbia's state-own power monopoly EPS is facing "big problems and is operating with losses" - but the government has no plans to sell it. This is according to Serbia's energy minister, Zorana Mihajlovic, who spoke for B92 on Monday in Belgrade. "EPS in trouble, but not for sale" She added that the current troubles did not mean the enterprise "cannot recover": "EPS is operating with losses, but that does not mean that it cannot recover. It is the only valuable thing Serbia is left with and it would be foolish to engage in the sale of the public enterprise." She pointed out that the EPS was RSD 43 billion in the red and sought a loan from the government worth RSD 10 billion. Mihajlovic said that the problem could be resolved if electric power was purchased without intermediaries, which would reduce expenses by 20 to 30 percent, stressing the need to deal with the problems of debt collection, rationalization of operating expenses and modernization of the EPS. B92 Tanjug

"EPS in trouble, but not for sale"

She added that the current troubles did not mean the enterprise "cannot recover":

"EPS is operating with losses, but that does not mean that it cannot recover. It is the only valuable thing Serbia is left with and it would be foolish to engage in the sale of the public enterprise."

She pointed out that the EPS was RSD 43 billion in the red and sought a loan from the government worth RSD 10 billion.

Mihajlović said that the problem could be resolved if electric power was purchased without intermediaries, which would reduce expenses by 20 to 30 percent, stressing the need to deal with the problems of debt collection, rationalization of operating expenses and modernization of the EPS.