Serbia: State power monopolies EPS and “Srbijagas” will not lose the market share due to the low prices

Published on 19. January 2015., News Serbia Energy

Small customers and households may or may not have to choose their electricity and natural gas supplier starting from New Year, while all the others are obliged to do so, says Ljiljana Hadzibabic from the Energy Agency. She added that the market opening will not affect state monopolies Power utility EPS and “Srbijagas” which will not lose the market.

Ljiljana Hadzibabic from the Energy Agency said that all customers of electricity and natural gas could afford to choose a supplier since New Year.
“Besides the small customers and households have to or have not to choose, and all the others have to do it and it refers for gas and electricity”, says Hadzibabic.

She points out that there are 38 licensed gas traders and 85 licensed electricity traders in Serbia in the free market, but only 44 of them are active in some way.
“Only three sold to end customers in 2014th. There are interests, they ask about next year but we will see when the year starts how many how many will be” said Ljiljana Hadzibabic from the Energy Agency.
She explains that and EPS and “Srbijagas” will lose a piece of cake by the market opening , but that they will not lose the primacy on the market soon.

“”Electric Power Industry” has its own production in the electricity production and it can always be at least a little cheaper than the market price and that is why they still hold 95 percent of the free, unregulated market”, explains Hadzibabic.
She adds that the situation is a little more difficult when it comes to gas.

“We only have one gas source and that is the Russian gas, and we have only one way of import from Hungary and until there is not another source, or at least a different direction, there will not be the right conditions for the market”, said Ljiljana Hadzibabic.

She explains that we can achieve true competition in the electricity when independent producers in Serbia would have a significant production and when the regulated price reaches the market price.
Ljiljana Hadzibabic says that the pricing policy is applied to the regulated segment of the market.
“So prices of energy and energy products are not regulated on this free market. The price is a result of supply and demand, and it cannot be influenced. A pricing policy is applied to the part that is regulated, and stream it is quite a large part in the electricity of around 60 percent of total consumption while it is a small part in the gas, at most 12 to 13 percent”, said Hadzibabic.