At the session of the parliamentary Committee for Economy, Regional Development, Trade, Tourism and Energy, director of the Energy Community Secretariat Janez Kopac made three biggest objections: the prices of electricity, the monopoly of Srbijagas and the subsidy for coal.
Electricity must not be so cheap
– The price of electricity for households would have to increase, while the help to the socially endangered would be intended only for those who need it the most – said Kopac.
As he stated, someone has to pay a low price in our country, and that someone is an industry. In that way, Serbia and the countries in the region, among them at least Montenegro, are losing the competitiveness of their companies. He says that Serbia should gradually start charging the price for carbon dioxide in the production of electricity, but in the beginning without paying, and that it will hand over that initiative to EPS.
He says that Serbia is still among the first in the region in the electricity sector, but that, unfortunately, it is very far behind the others in the gas sector.
He stated that the misdemeanor procedure against Serbia due to the lack of reforms in Srbijagas is the oldest procedure in the EC that has been conducted since 2013.
Srbijagas’ monopoly must stop
Kopac said that five years ago, Serbia was by far the first in the entire region in all those sectors, and that today it lags behind some countries.
– The transport activity in Srbijagas should be separated and that process takes too long – he stated. Kopac said that the fact that Srbijagas does not allow the introduction of competition in the gas sector is bad for the citizens, and that enabling it is a condition for opening Chapter 15 in the talks on Serbia’s membership with the EU.
Kopac said that the Energy Community’s bill showed that in December 2020, the average household in Serbia would pay 20 euros less per month for gas bills, if Srbijagas allowed competition.
Coal subsidies higher than for RES
As a big problem, he cites subsidies for coal, which he says are not allowed, and which are higher than subsidies for renewable energy sources.
He said at the board session, which was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mining and Energy, Zorana Mihajlovic, that Serbia had not achieved the binding goal of up to 27% of the share of energy from renewable sources in final consumption and that it is currently at 21%.
Kopac said that investments in the area of solar power plants and wind farms were blocked due to unfavorable feed-in tariffs.
However, he stated that the new law on renewable energy sources, whose adoption is expected soon, will open the door for new investments.
He says that the biggest problem for the environment is sulfur dioxide emissions.
– The emission of sulfur dioxide in Serbia in 2019 was six times higher than allowed by Serbian rules, even more if compared to EU rules – said Kopac.
He stated that Serbia adopted the National Emission Reduction Plan and decided to close some of the thermal power plants, and that Kostolac and “Nikola Tesla” are the problem, Telegraf reports.
Source: serbia-business.eu
