Energy Community Secretariat received a complaint claiming that the public enterprise Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) has received State aid without the approval of the Commission for State Aid Control.
The aid was granted in the form of a transfer of property and several State guarantees for a loan used for the construction and improvement of the efficiency of the TPP Kolubara B. In April 2015, the Commission concluded that the Law on State Aid Control did not apply to State aid granted before January 2010 and that the provisions of the Law on aid to public enterprises were not applicable before January 2012.
For this reason, the Commission for State Aid Control concluded that all of the measures but one fell outside of its competence as they were granted before January 2012.
The Commission assessed the one measure to which the State aid rules were applicable under the special provisions of the Regulation on the Rules for State Aid Granting, contained in the Commission Notice on State Aid in the form of guarantee and concluded that the measure constituted State aid.
However, when determining whether such State aid was allowed, the Commission stated that Serbia, as the grantor, had a right to be repaid if the guarantees were activated and that, for this reason, there was no potential State expenditure. In addition, the Commission for State Aid Control took into account the fact that EPS was in charge of ensuring safe and regular power supply to tariff customers as a service of general interest. As the provider of services of general economic interest, the EPS was obliged to take measures for developing its capacities for the production of coal and for the production and distribution of energy, as well as for preventing and eliminating the consequences of such production to the environment. According to the Commission for State Aid Control, the State aid also contributed to increasing the efficiency of the thermal power plant and to lowering its impact on the environment.
Finally, the Commission for State Aid Control found that the measure was necessary and that it benefited all citizens and could therefore be allowed as State aid for the execution of a project of special importance for the Republic of Serbia concluded the Energy Community implementation report. , transmits Serbia-energy.eu
