Serbia: Gov to speed up EPS power utility company restructuring

Published on 17. December 2013., News Serbia Energy

Electric Power Industry of Serbia is expecting to operate as a company which produces electricity and makes a profit from next year. The Government of Serbia should choose a new Supervisory Board of Electric Power Industry of Serbia by the end of this month, which in the next step should adopt a new statute of that public company.

Both events, no matter how formal they will be, will have a profound economic consequences, not only for EPS, but also for the society as a whole, because with the new statute, our electric power industry is becoming a company that will be corporate organized, which means, as recently said its first man Aleksandar Obradovic for “Politika” – that it will produce electricity and make a profit, and he will be head of directors.

The Ministry of Energy confirmed that they expect the new Supervisory Board of EPS to be appointed no later than this month, which will be responsible for the adoption of the Statute of EPS, which is already prepared.

EPS, actually, is waiting for a year to put this issue on the agenda of the government, which was confirmed by Aleksandar Obradovic, Acting Director of EPS, noting that this public company loses about 35 MEUR a year because of it.

In EPS, they are still waiting for the answer if the network fee will be charged from the first January, when the market for electricity consumers in the medium voltage opens, or whether the electricity transfer price will be the same for those in Belgrade, Prokuplje and Vranje. The line ministry say they expect the draft amendments to the Energy Law to define a single tariff that will be completed in mid-month, and that the amendments to the law will be adopted by the end of the year.

The Ministry of Energy said that the management of EPS is aware that it is possible to establish a single fee only with the change of the Energy Law.

When asked how it was possible at the present organization that five different network fees of five companies within the EPS do not reflect the total cost of electricity for end customers, the Ministry of Energy explained it is possible that different prices for access to the network do not affect the price of electricity consumption which end users will pay with co-ordination within the EPS and flexible approach in offering a single price for the supply.

In the case where a single company for distribution is not established or another solution is not found due to different network fees, the possibility that the price of electricity will be uneven is worrying, and companies in remote regions will pay higher bills than those in the center of the republic, where the network fee is lower.

The EPS claims that the establishment of a new subsidiary company is the only way that all customers have the same requirements for access to the distribution network and to prevent uneven distribution of costs between different regions of Serbia.

In the event that another solution is not found, companies that spend the same amount of electricity would receive bills at different prices from 1 January 2014, depending on which part of the country they are from.

SoSource; Serbia Energy /EPS