EPS will not be privatized nor will it lay off the workers, said the Minister of Mining and Energy, Zorana Mihajlovic, and added that the goal of the reform is to strengthen and expand that company, which should be a “regional player”.
“That is the vision and that is the goal of the EPS reform,” said Mihajlovic, answering the questions of the journalists in Kostolac.
She said that EPS will not lay off workers, but on the contrary that EPS lacks a professional workforce and that the company needs people, from the most professional to ordinary workers.
“That means expanding and strengthening EPS and its regional position. Serbia has a fantastic position as a country, and EPS should follow that position of Serbia and be a regional player,” Mihajlovic said.
She reminds that the government recently made two important conclusions, one of which concerns the future of EPS, and the other changes in Srbijagas.
“This is exactly the beginning, as the first step but not the only one, when we talk about EPS separation of distribution activities, ODS (distribution system operator) certainly exists, but a part of both employees and technical centers exist within EPS and it must be merged and much more efficient and transparent,” the Minister points out.
She says that the goal of the changes is not only the separation of activities, but further greater investment in those activities.
“A lot of money has to be invested in the distribution system, it has to reduce its technical and non – technical losses and it has to become a modern enterprise. As EPS will have a completely different investment plan, because EPS will increase its investments in hydropower plants, as well as environmental protection,” stated Mihajlovic.
The Minister points out that EPS is the base of energy security of our country and that because of that, EPS will not be privatized or will dismiss its workers.
When it comes to the reform of Srbijagas, Mihajlovic says that the first step is the same separation of the distribution and gas transport activities.
“These two companies cannot be separated only on paper. Transportgas is a very important company and it must have its employees and its assets.”
Both ODS and Transportgas and gas distribution must have licenses, said Mihajlovic, adding that we do not live in the Middle Ages, but in a serious and modern state.
She says that Srbijagas will continue to invest in interconnectors with the region.
“We are connecting with many countries in the region and we have to build our connections with the region. So, one is the legal-administrative part of the division of activities, to know where the costs and revenues are, and the other part is to continue and increase investment.”
Mihajlovic says that both EPS and Srbijagas can be much stronger companies than they are now.
She also points out that the reform does not mean an increase in prices, especially when it comes to Srbijagas, but that it can contribute to a drop in the price of natural gas. She adds that there are many such examples.
The most important thing for the citizens is to have a quality delivery of electricity and gas of good quality, says Mihajlovic.
The construction of the block “Kostolac B3” must be faster
– The Minister of Mining and Energy, Zorana Mihajlović, told the Chinese contractors “CMEC”, who are building the new block “Kostolac B3”, in Kostolac today, that they must join the ranks of successful Chinese companies operating in Serbia and complete the construction of that block as soon as possible.
Mihajlovic told reporters that the construction of the new block is very late, that the contractor was one of the first to announce that the construction would be delayed due to the pandemic, and pointed out that they gave a new deadline for the completion of works, the end of 2022.
“New proposals from the contractors are unacceptable for us, and that is that this block should be completed at the end of 2022, which means 2023 for me. From the experience I have from previous years, I know that it is possible to start work much faster, and that is the reason why I am here today,” said Mihajlovic.
She points out that she wanted to send a clear message to the contractors together with the director of EPS, Milorad Grcic, that neither the Ministry nor EPS “will tolerate some things”, regardless of the contract, which, she says, is turnkey.
Mihajlovic said that the Ministry has appointed people who, together with EPS, will form a small team that will help the contractor in terms of manpower and bringing equipment on time.
She said that it is the largest construction site in the field of energy and pointed out that the construction of the block “Kostolac B3” is very important for the energy system of Serbia.
She pointed out that the contract with the Chinese contractor on the construction of that block was signed in 2013.
Mihajlovic also stated that there are more building permits than works on that construction site, that there is a lack of workers, engineers, but also much more efficiency.
“As someone who drove traffic and large construction sites, I must admit that no construction site stopped or slowed down its work during the pandemic in construction and traffic. I also expect things to improve here as well,” underlined Mihajlovic.
She says that EPS needs that block, as well as new investments, and announced that more investments can be expected in 2021, especially in environmental protection, which will lead to a strong electricity industry.
Milorad Grcic said that the situation on the construction site in Kostolac was significantly delayed, and that five years had been lost from the signing of the contract until the start of work in 2018.
“This is one of the most important projects for EPS, the construction of a 350 megawatt block. It is important to finish as soon as possible and be online. The contract is in principle turnkey. I am happy because of the help we will have from the Ministry, because this project contributes to the stability of EPS and the stability of electricity supply,” said Grcic.
He added that he is convinced that, regardless of all the problems, the works will be accelerated and that significant changes will be seen on the construction site at the beginning of 2021.
Namely, the new block “Kostolac B3” with a capacity of 350 MW, is one of the largest investments in the domestic energy sector and the first large energy plant to be built in Serbia after almost three decades.
EPS will get a modern, efficient block that will meet all domestic and European environmental criteria and will increase the security of the Serbian energy system in the long run.
The expected annual production is about 2.2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity.
The project in Kostolac is being implemented on the basis of the interstate agreement between Serbia and China on economic and technical cooperation in the field of infrastructure, which was signed on August 21, 2009.
The package project was roughly contracted in 2010 with CMEC (China Machinery and Engineering Corporation), one of the two largest Chinese companies in the field of energy, and is taking place in two phases.
The contract for the second phase was signed in 2013, Danas reports.
