EPS Hasn’t Yet Offered Agreements on New Electricity Prices to Most Companies – Potential 50% Increase

Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) has not yet offered agreements to the majority part of the economy on electricity prices, so companies are awaiting a proposition with fear, because there are unofficial allegations of a price increase of 50%.

Until recently, EPS delivered electricity to the economy at the price of EUR 50-60 per MWh and most agreements expired recently, and in the meantime, since August, the price of electricity in markets in the world has started growing. Seven days ago, it exceeded EUR 400 per MWh, and, in the local market, these days it ranges between EUR 350 and 380 per MWh.

The director of the Serbian Association of Employers, Srdjan Drobnjakovic, told Beta that the economy might withstand an increase in the price of electrical energy by 10% at most, and that there are unofficial allegations of a 50% price increase.

– Medium and small enterprises could withstand a maximum increase in the price of electricity of 10%, without going down. We assume that large consumers, among which are foreign companies, have already gotten favorable agreements – Drobnjakovic said.

In early November, when the prices of electricity in world markets occasionally exceeded EUR 200 per MWh, the Government of Serbia proposed to EPS to extend the price set in the previous agreements of around EUR 50-60 for commercial users for that month as well.

As the price of electricity had continued increasing rapidly in the markets due to the astronomic increase in the price of gas, in early December, the Government of Serbia adopted the Decision on the price of electrical energy for backup supply with electrical energy of end-users which don’t have the right to a guaranteed supply after December 1, 2021. Using the drastic increase of the price of electricity as an argument, one MWh was calculated at the price of EUR 66.7 for the economy for December.

Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Zorana Mihajlovic recently said that “EPS is talking to each company, trying to find the optimal price for both EPS and those companies”. The state, she said, must help the economy which can’t switch to gas, but didn’t say what the help entailed.

Elektroprivreda Srbije ad Beograd

Unija poslodavaca Srbije Beograd

Vlada Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

Elektroprivreda Srbije

EPS

Serbian Association of Employers

Government of Serbia

Ministry of Mining and Energy

Srđan Drobnjaković

Zorana Mihajlović

agreed price of electricity

electrical energy price increase

Decision of price of electrical energy for backup supply of end users with electrical energy