The price of electricity in Serbia in the next year or year and a half should be increased by 30 percent so that Electric Power Industry of Serbia could have basic conditions for investment, Dejan Rebric project manager of the EU Delegation in Serbia told Press.
He said that the EU Delegation Office recommended to Serbian government to do it in three phases by 10 percent, but that does not mean that the government will adopt this recommendation. Rebic says the position of EU is that the price of electricity in Serbia should be increased and that EU supports the change in tariff system that was recently announced by the Ministry of Energy.
– We are absolutely aware that this price only takes EPS down. Prices of various products in Serbia are at European prices level, while electricity prices are the lowest in the region and Europe. We can not expect the price to be at the European level because even in Europe all prices are not the same everywhere. But five eurocents per kilowatt in Serbia is certainly not a realistic price – Rebic said.
Ministry of Energy has recently announced the introduction of social cards. After that electricity in Serbia should be sold at realistic prices, except for vulnerable population. Rebrić says it’s also because the EU recommended it as a just billing system.
– It’s not fair that everyone pays the same. Those who are heating pools with electricity and those who have only one bulb. The same story is with central heating. So if anyone has the need for social assistance is not fair that they pay the full cost of energy. What is fair is to create a social map, and the Serbian government itself will determine the social categories – he said, adding that there are social maps in the EU.
Otherwise, Rebic stresses that in 12 years period some 2.4 billion euros of donations entered Serbia, out of which over 520 million in energy sector only. Rebrić says that EU gives Serbia about 200 million in donations annually and that these funds could be increased one day. However, the level of investment in the energy sector is likely to remain the same, because it is the position of the EU that EPS should finance the renovation of facilities and infrastructure from realistic sources.
Source Serbia Energy Magazine
