Minister of Mining and Energy Aleksandar Antić said that the final decision on the project of thermal power plant “Štavalj”should be made in the first half of March 2015, this project including the construction of a new thermal power plant near Sjenica and the expansion of the existing mine.
Within the Meeting of Heads of Government of China and Central and Eastern European Countries, after talking to Jan Mladek, the Czech Minister of Industry and Trade, also in charge of the energy sector, Antić said to the reporters that the situation created after the suspension of the project South Stream had also been considered. The Czech Minister said that it was important that a secure gas supply via Ukraine be ensured this winter, because we did not have any alternative for the time being.
Antić pointed out that the future steps with respect to the project “Štavalj”had been defined at the meeting with the Czech colleague, which should be implemented within a joint working group, before the session of the two countries’Joint Committee in the first half of March. The adoption of the official decision on this project is also expected thereupon.
For expanding the production at the mine “Štavalj” from the present 50.000 tons to two million tons of coal annually, with the construction of a new thermal power plant, the investment of around 800 million EUR is necessary. The project should be realized in cooperation with the Czech partner, the company “Alta”.
Antić said that he had also talked with the Czech Minister about the modernization of the mine “Soko” within the Public Enterprise for Underground Coal Exploitation “Resavica”, because the Serbian budget for 2015[envisaged] the investment of 10 million EUR (in the first phase of this project).
– At the meeting, we also talked about the interest of the Czech companies in building hydro power plantson the lower course of the Drina – Antić said.
