Demostat: Serbian Power Company Needs One Billion Euros for Coming Winter

Thermal Power Plant Nikola Tesla(BETAPHOTO/MILAN TIMOTIC/EV)

According to the Demostat Research and Publishing Center, the Serbian publicly-owned power utility company Elektroprivreda Srbija (EPS) will be needing between one and one and half billion euros to import enough electricity for the coming winter season – funds the government is still considering how to procure.

Citing the poor quality of coal from the Kolubara Mining Basin combined with last year’s serious malfunctions at Serbia’s main power plant and this year’s low output from hydroplants caused by the drought, experts are forecasting a power deficit of as many as 2.2 billion kilowatt hours for Serbian consumers.

What the authorities are trying to figure out now is how to provide the funds EPS will need to cover this deficit. Demostat claims that one solution is for the power utility to take out a new loan from commercial banks. The issue with that solution is the company’s existing and substantial debt.

The second reported possibility is for the Serbian government to support new EPS loans by acting as a guarantor. The third option, according to Demostat, is for the government to make a new deal with the International Monetary Fund whereby the IMF would be granted the right to participate in managing the power utility.