EBRD loans EUR 200mn to Serbia's power company EPS

EBRD loans EUR 200mn to Serbia's power company EPS

It added that the sovereign-guaranteed loan "will help EPS restructure its balance sheet and support its recovery after the devastating aftermath of the Balkan floods in 2014," and also "help the company reach long-term development objectives such as commercialization, raising standards of corporate governance and improving energy efficiency."

"The EBRD’s financing will support further reforms in Serbia’s energy sector and will help achieve energy market liberalization, an important condition for EU accession. It will also deepen regional integration in the Western Balkans by stimulating cross-border energy distribution and trade," the bank said.

“We believe our financing will make EPS more efficient. We are pleased to be working on the modernisation of the company, increasing environmental and social standards and corporate governance. We see a lot of potential to further develop EPS as a commercial company and it is important EPS continues to implement the reforms started over the past year or two,” EBRD Director Power and Energy Nandita Parshad has been quoted as saying.

“EPS needed to respond urgently last year to the unprecedented and catastrophic floods which hit Serbia. This put huge strains on EPS and we commend the resilience demonstrated by the company and management at that time. This loan is hopefully the final step to help EPS recover from the damage and by re-financing liabilities taken at the time, management will be in a position to press forward with a vision for a more efficient company”, EBRD Director for Serbia Daniel Berg said.

“We’re delighted to be working with our long-standing partner EBRD," EPS General Manager Aleksandar Obradovic said, and added: "A lot of hard work lies in front of us, but we are committed to making EPS a modern, efficient and competitive regional leader in the energy sector."

Serbia's Minister of Energy and Mining Aleksandar Antic said: “This is a very important step for Serbia. We are grateful to the EBRD for taking such active role in providing support to EPS, alongside the World Bank and the IMF.”

The EBRD noted that since the start of its operations in Serbia, it invested over EUR 4 billion in over 190 projects across the country.