"Restructuring of energy enterprises launched"

"Restructuring of energy enterprises launched"

This new company under the name EPS Group should be a group with the parent corporation as the founder of the two companies - one responsible for the grid to replace six regional power distribution companies, the other being EPS Supply which would replace 14 dependent power production companies, Antic said.

EPS Group will be much more efficient, and will not be one of major loss-making firms in the system of public enterprises.

The public gas enterprise Srbijagas will be transformed into a holding with two functionally independent companies by July 1, the minister said.

One enterprise will be a transport operator, and the other responsible for gas distribution, he said.

The government adopted the plan for restructuring Srbijagas in December last year, so it should be reorganized by July 1, and its operations unbundled into two companies that would serve as gas transport and gas supply operators, Antic said.

By the end of 2015, Srbijagas will get a consultant for financial consolidation, Antic said.

The government will discuss the financial consolidation of Srbijagas with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank, and that is part of the agreement with the IMF. Antic underlined.

The aim is to find the financial consultant that will propose a plan for settling the issue of debts owed to the company which total around USD 1 billion, its main debtors being the restructuring companies (petrochemicals producer Petrohemija and fertilizer maker Azotara account for 50 percent of the debt).

Serbia has not built a single energy facility for a very long time, but it concluded a financial arrangement with Chinese partners for building the new unit of the thermal power plant Kostolac which will have the installed power capacity of 350 MW, the entire investment being worth around EUR 700 million, Antic said, adding that the project should be completed by 2019.

Speaking about the adverse effects that the devastating floods that hit Serbia in May last year had on the energy system, Antic said that this led to a considerable drop in coal production, and added he is satisfied with the fact that in December the coal production was restored at the Kolubara strip mine from scratch to 80,000 tons per day, which is around 90 percent of the maximum daily needs.

One of the ministry's major successes is the energy law, passed in late December, which received the most positive assessment from the European Commission, and Serbia is the only country in the region with the law aligned with the EU Third Energy Package, Antic said.

The law can be interpreted as an invitation to investors to come to Serbia, offering guarantees for their investments, Antic said.