Price of electricity in Serbia to go up starting December 1

Price of electricity in Serbia to go up starting December 1

Energy Minister Aleksandar Antic said electricity will be more expensive starting December, to be calculated in the January electricity bills.

According to him, the price of electricity for the industry will not go up.

Antic said for RTS that there had been no corrections in electricity prices for more than two years.

"The last time, the price of electricity was significantly raised in 2015, while 2016 and 2017 saw minimal corrections, whereas there were no corrections in 2018 and 2019. We had justified demands from energy companies, there is an increased influx of renewable energy sources, including costs for transmitting that energy, but there is also a significant increase in electricity prices on the world market", the minister of energy pointed out.

The price increase, as he says, is well below the demands and costs of energy companies.

The cheapest electricity price in the region

"Even with this increased price, we will have the cheapest electricity in the region, in Europe, Eastern Europe, that is. Let me say that electricity in Serbia is 7.2 percent cheaper than in Macedonia, 18.9 percent than in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 24 percent than in Albania, 35.8 percent compared to Bulgaria, 79.97 percent than in Croatia, 85 percent than in Romania, 125 percent than in Slovenia", Antic said.

When it comes to other energy products, the minister said that there are sufficient supplies and that prices would not go up.

Commenting on the possible stopping of gas supplies from Russia via Ukraine, Antic said that Serbia takes good care of its energy stability and that it has "scenario for every possible situation".

According to EUROSTAT data, electricity is the most expensive in Germany, 30.88 €c/kWh (with taxes and VAT), in Hungary 11.20 €c/kWh (euro cents per kilowatt-hour), in Bulgaria 9.97 €c/kWh, while the price in Serbia is 7.34 €c/kWh (see the attached price chart).