Minister Zorana Mihajlovic rejected the claims of the President of the Assembly of the Gas Association Vojislav Vuletic that the announced reform of Srbijagas was cosmetic, that the plan adopted by the Government was nothing new and that the criticism of the director of that public company, Dusan Bajatovic, was a consequence of an earlier conflict with him.
She reacted to the text from Danas “Minister Mihajlovic’s concession, Bajatovic still an armchair” in which Vuletic stated that the reform of Srbijagas is largely underway because the transport and distribution activities have already been separated by founding two companies, Transportgas and Distribucijagas, and that Bajatovic will remain in the position of director because “he simply does his job well, while it can be said that Zorana Mihajlović is not versed when it comes to the energy sector.”
The Minister assessed that Danas’ interlocutor simply did not read the Government’s plan, because if he had, he would have known that three independent companies should be formed in the next five months, and not two dependent ones within Srbijagas.
She also emphasized that the Association that Vuletic represents does not have any activity, but that they are up-to-date only when it is necessary to protect the interests of Srbijagas and its director who pays the costs of the association and the car to its president. Vuletic has not been available for comment on the minister’s claims in the past few days.
The list of objections that Mihajlovic points out about the business of Srbijagas and director Bajatovic is long, and often it is not alone in that criticism.
The public and experts point to the closure of that company, to the non-economic moves of that public company, mostly to high salaries, among which the director’s “protruding” of a total of 2 million euros “sticks out” and that the state has to cover losses, give guarantees and often repays his loans.
It is also criticized that instead of collecting receivables, Srbijagas took over large debtors without them having anything to do with their core business.
However, all these shares in companies such as Staklara, Agroziv, MSK, Petrohemija, Azotara, then private companies from the gas sector – were taken over, then some were returned with the consent or initiative of the Government.
The wind in Mihajlovic’s back was given last week by the Council of Ministers of the European Energy Community, where she took over the role of chair for the next period, in which Serbia was praised for fuel quality but criticized precisely for its inseparable functions of transport and gas trade.
Also, on December 10, the Government adopted a reorganization plan, after which a working group was formed that will monitor a total of 29 activities in order for Srbijagas to become a joint stock company by May 1 next year.
However, is all this enough to carry out a real reform in Srbijagas?
Economist Milan Kovacevic says that the story is much more complex than the mutual relationship between Mihajlovic and Bajatovic, and that it is more about weighing the relationship between the SNS and the SPS.
– We need to separate the gas pipelines from the trade, and instead Srbijagas is establishing its subsidiary Transportgas. But, he did not do it himself, the Government ordered it and now we are watching the play of how the Minister calls the director of that insignificant Transportgas for a conversation, and objectively, it is managed by the parent company. We have not separated anything yet and we think that Europe is naive and does not see it. It is a very complicated story, it mentions the influence of America, Russia, but it is not crucial because most of our economic activities are in foreign hands. It’s not a problem here, it’s that everything is falling apart. The final outcome will be dictated by who can pay more to whom or, the higher the “capital”, who has more recorded sins – says Kovacevic and adds that it can happen that the two of them have two types of meetings, one that goes public and others when they are really talking, which would be even more intelligent to them.
Goran Radosavljevic, a professor at FEFA University and Secretary General of the National Petroleum Committee, says that he does not expect any major changes because although the new-old minister in that department “shows muscles”, she organizes things as she thinks necessary, which is legitimate, decisions are still made on some higher level.
– Regardless of the play we are watching, the scope of the ministry is limited and the final decision on whether the director remains in a company or not will be made by the Government. Also, we are now in the phase of key projects such as the gas pipeline that is being built, we have an obligation to separate not only the paper trade and transport of gas, but also what we have accepted in the Third Energy Package. All this is determined by the Government, it cannot be a unilateral decision of either the ministers or the director. It is possible that the Ministry will check the business of Srbijagas, but I do not believe that Bajatovic decided on many things himself. I do not expect any significant changes at the head of Srbijagas, because the state has not yet decided to make a turn in energy policy. Although we need to work on diversification of the ways and sources of supply, there is no signal to think about it, and there would be only if there is a change of director, separation of activities, transparent business of these companies. None of that is on the horizon for now – says Radosavljevic.
By the way, Srbijagas currently has 14 more subsidiaries, of which he founded the companies Transportgas and Distribucijagas, presenting it as a separation of gas transport from trading.
The main activity is also related to the Banatski dvor warehouse, South stream from Switzerland, established for the failed construction of the South Stream gas pipeline, and Jugorosgas connected to Russian partners.
Mainly based on debts for the delivered energy, Srbijagas also manages companies, some of which are engaged in distribution and some have no contact with the activities of the parent company.
The list includes Energogas from Podgorica, Special Port in Pancevo, MSK from Kikinda, ceramics factory “Toza Markovic”, Gas from Becej, Bjeljinagas, Progresgas Trading, Sogas, Petrohemija, Informatika from Belgrade, Loznica gas and Gazpromet from Pal, Danas reports.
