The oil industry of Serbia, despite the crisis on the oil market, will not give up on further development and modernization of the company, said Andrej Tucnin, first deputy general director of NIS and director of the downstream division.
In an interview for the energy portal “Balkanmagazin”, Tucnin said that NIS, despite the crisis in the oil sector, invested as much as 64 million euros in capital projects in the first quarter. He added that among the strategic priorities of NIS are further development of refining and trade, ie modernization of the Oil Refinery in Pancevo and the retail network in Serbia and the countries of the region.
According to him, the Oil Refinery in Pancevo is already one of the most efficient and environmentally advanced refineries in this part of Europe, but we are constantly working on further improvement of technologies and processes, because it is a precondition for survival in a very competitive market.
Tucnin stated that the plant for deep processing, the capital project of the second phase of the modernization of the refinery, worth 300 million euros, will start during the year.
– When this plant starts, our refinery will be among the leading European refineries in terms of processing depth, 99.2 percent. This will give us larger quantities of the most valuable products, primarily diesel. We will also start domestic production of petroleum coke, which is now being imported into Serbia. The new plant will also bring us numerous environmental benefits – above all, the cessation of the production of fuel oil with a high sulfur content. With the completion of this project, the Pancevo Refinery will be ahead of many in Europe, Tucnin stated.
He added that NIS has invested significant funds in environmental protection projects, especially when it comes to the refinery. “Today, we can proudly say that the Pancevo factory is the ‘greenest’ in this part of Europe,” said the first deputy general director of NIS.
– Thanks to constant investments in the modernization of processing plants, the Pancevo refinery became the first energy facility in Serbia to receive an IPPC permit for integrated prevention and control of environmental pollution. This permit also confirms that all production processes in the Refinery are fully compliant with the highest domestic and European standards in the field of environmental protection,” said Tucnin.
According to him, NIS will continue with the modernization of the retail network, and the company manages more than 400 gas stations in Serbia, BiH, Bulgaria and Romania.
– Last year, we reconstructed five stations in Serbia, of which three stations are of very important importance on the highway, and two stations in the new “A” format of our company. This year, in July, we will complete the highway gas station at the exit from Novi Sad and reconstruct five more gas stations. At the beginning of the year, we opened a new station in Koceljeva, and then two more stations were opened in Podunavci and Leskovac. By the end of the year, we plan to complete a total of six reconstruction projects in Serbia. These are modern digital facilities that establish new standards in this area and provide our consumers with an improved user experience, said Tucnin.
He added that during the epidemic of the new corona virus, NIS managed to achieve both priority goals: to preserve the health of employees and ensure the stability of the market supply of oil derivatives, which is a precondition for the country’s energy security.
– Our business processes are very diverse, intensive and are performed throughout Serbia, as well as in the Balkan countries – from exploration, production and refining of oil to the sale of derivatives to consumers. These processes must not be interrupted. A responsible attitude towards the health of employees and consumers has enabled us to preserve stability on the market, because the country’s energy security is equally important to us, Tucnin concluded, Politika reports.
