Agreement signed for 10 hydroelectric plants

BELGRADE -- EPS has signed an agreement with Italian company SECI Energia for founding a joint venture called Ibarske Elektrane.

Gaetano Maccaferri and Dragomir Marković (Beta)

In the coming years, they will be building 10 hydroelectric plants along the Ibar River, worth a total of EUR 278mn.

EPS General Director Dragomir Marković said that positive commercial effects are expected from the agreement, adding that attention will be paid to renewable sources of energy and the protection of the environment.

“Also, the project will be bringing benefits to the local community in various ways, starting with taxes, work for the local companies in building the plants, and jobs for locals in the construction process, and later in the exploitation,” Marković said.

The Italian company will own 51 percent of the shares of the new company.

“The energy that is produced will be available to the entire country, and the entire market. We agreed with our partners that the environment must be protected and the specifics of the local region must be respected and invested in, and we believe that this project will contribute to development in the region,” Italian company representative Gaetano Maccaferri said.

Energy Minister Petar Škundrić said that the agreement represents 20 percent of the agreed investments that will be made in the energy sector with the help of the Italian government.

Italian ambassador to Serbia Armando Varricchio said that “Italy believes that Serbia is the most important country in the region and that it will be the main force of development in the region and will attract foreign investments.”

“I am sure that this project will have benefits for both sides,” he said.