The business of the Oil Industry of Serbia in the first half of 2020 was strongly influenced by global unfavorable macroeconomic circumstances, but the company, despite the crisis, preserved the stability of business activities and invested 120 million euros in further development.
Unfavorable global macroeconomic circumstances are primarily related to the fall in oil prices and the Covid-19 epidemic, which caused a drastic decrease in the demand for oil derivatives in the reporting period, NIS said in a statement.
“Despite unfavorable macroeconomic trends, the NIS group has invested 120 million euros in further development. Most was invested in the field of oil and gas exploration and production, the ‘Deep Refining’ project at the Pancevo Oil Refinery and the modernization of the retail network in Serbia and the region,” the statement said.
When it comes to operational indicators, NIS, despite the crisis, preserved the results in the field of exploration and production at last year’s level – 636 thousand conditional tons of oil and gas were produced, which is 1.0 percent less than the performance in 2019.
In the field of processing and trade, NIS achieved better results compared to the first half of 2019.
The Pancevo Oil Refinery processed 1.630 million tons of crude oil and semi-finished products, which is 35% more than in the first half of last year. At the same time, pre-start activities have started at the “Deep Processing” complex.
The total volume of turnover amounted to 1.556 million tons, or 2.0 percent more than in the comparable period of 2019, with an increase in exports of 42 percent.
In the first half of the year, after the reconstruction, the work of five gas stations in Serbia began, including the modern A-format city stations in Leskovac. The Otopeni gas station, the 19th NIS fuel station in Romania, has also started operating.
In addition, consumers at NIS Petrol and Gazprom gas stations were enabled to pay for fuel for the first time in Serbia, via the digital application Drive.Go, without going to the toll booth.
Even in complex circumstances, NIS managed to maintain the EBITDA indicator at a positive level, as well as a positive cash flow, but due to negative macroeconomic trends, a net loss of was also recorded.
NIS and its employees have contributed to the fight against the spread of the new corona virus. As part of those efforts, NIS provided 270 tons of air fuel for humanitarian flights of the domestic airline “Air Serbia”, while the majority shareholder, the Russian company “Gazprom Neft”, donated fuel for the needs of public services in Serbia.
In addition, NIS volunteers were engaged in supporting the most vulnerable categories of the population and medical workers.
“Our business in the first half of 2020 took place in circumstances unheard of in the global economy. Therefore, I can state with satisfaction that in the previous period, thanks to the great efforts of management and employees, we preserved financial stability, security of supply on the domestic market, as well as the health of our colleagues and consumers,” says Kiril Tyurdenev, General Director of NIS.
Extraordinary circumstances, he adds, require strong answers.
“In the continuation of the year, we will be committed to further savings, but we will not give up investing in key projects. We will also focus on increasing operational efficiency in all business segments, as well as efforts to preserve the social security of employees, relying on our own strength,” said Tyurdenev.
He points out that NIS will also continue to provide support to the community in which it operates, aware that “we can overcome this difficult period more successfully if we are responsible and in solidarity,” Politika reports.
