BELGRADE -- Serbia's new energy law will "throw the door
open wide to investors to put money in the energy sector in Serbia,"
Aleksandar Antic said in the parliament Friday.
The new law will significantly improve the investment
climate in the energy sector, and it will also help create new jobs, which is a
priority for the government, the minister of energy and mining said while
presenting a draft.
"There are a lot of investors from the EU, the U.S. and
Russia interested in investing in Serbia’s energy sector," Antic said,
adding that Serbia would soon begin construction of a new power plant in
Kostolac and that there were plans to invest in the Stavalj thermal power plant
and mine, with the possibility of large investments in renewable energies
thanks to state incentives, all with the aim of reaching the 2020 target of 27
percent of electricity from renewable energy sources.
Starting from January 1, 2015, under the new energy law, Serbia will be fully
implementing all measures of the European Union’s Third Energy Package relevant
to the sectors of gas, electric power and renewable energy sources, which will
make Serbia the first country in the region to implement all these provisions,
Antic said.
The new law will ensure security and efficiency of supply of energy products to
consumers, improve the investment climate, improve operation in the gas and
electricity markets, and ensure the participation of foreign entities in the electrical
energy market and implementation of European legislation in this area, the
minister said.
Antic stressed that the government and the Energy Ministry led a responsible
social policy in that area, pointing out that in the coming year, RSD 700 million
dinars would be set aside for those who could not pay for electricity, and they
would get 120-240 kilowatt hours of electricity per month and certain
quantities of gas for free.
"In line"
The energy bill the parliament will discuss on Friday should
bring Serbia's regulations in that field in line with EU legislation, Tanjug
reported.
The new bill is proposed in order to harmonize Serbian legislation with that of
the EU in a comprehensive and efficient way and solve problems noticed in
practice, according to the argumentation for the bill.
The bill includes all the measures from the Third Energy Package of the EU
related to the gas and power supply sectors, while renewable energy sources are
only indirectly covered, because of the changes in the way the power supply
sector works, Aleksandar Antic said earlier.
The bill brings more accurate and better organized administrative procedures
while also removing the faults related to how energy licenses are issued and
how the privileges power supplier status is gained, Antic underscored.
The bill is expected to help increase the number of power and gas suppliers on
the market, which will raise competition and make the market, which opens on
January 1, 2015, operate more successfully, according to the argumentation.
This creates the possibility of having new suppliers appear on the market,
increasing competitiveness and allowing consumers to choose suppliers freely,
based on the conditions they offer.
According to the Energy Agency, there are currently over 80 licensed power
suppliers and 33 natural gas suppliers.
The bill allows foreign companies to obtain power supply licenses as well.
The proposed act defines much of the administrative procedure, which creates
the conditions needed for investing in energy production facilities that use
renewable sources.
The bill improves the procedures related to renewable energy production, which
provides better conditions for investors, since renewable energy needs to reach
a share of 27 percent in Serbia's total energy consumption by 2020.
This document needs to be adopted urgently because Serbia has agreed to
incorporate the directives from the Third Energy Package into its legislation
by January 1, 2015, as well as to open its power and gas markets completely, so
all consumers, including households, would be able to choose their supplier
freely.
Criticism
The USAID Business Enabling Project previously expressed
"serious concern" over the draft law on energy, as proposed by the
relevant ministry.
The organization stated that adoption of this law would "largely undo the
positive progress made by adopting amendments to the Law on Planning and
Construction," which recently came into force.
A statement issued on Wednesday further said that the number of procedures has
increased, as well as the number of days required for obtaining usage licenses,
while investors' legal safety would be compromised.
The law on energy insists on the act of approval of connections to the network
that the Law on Planning and Construction does not provide.
This act would be adopted in administrative procedure, which was described by
USAID as "a very retrograde solution bearing in mind it is a contractual
relationship between a company (providing electricity) and investors."
"We especially emphasize the utter inappropriateness of the deadlines: 30
days for a decision on approval of connection by the power company, and
connecting within a further 15 days after fulfillment of all conditions,
including that the investor submits a supply contract to the operator,"
the statement was quoted by the media.
USAID added that it was "particularly harmful from the standpoint of legal
certainty and irrational from the standpoint of efficiency that the investor
should learn about the conditions and costs of connecting to the network only
after the building permit has been issued."
Aleksandar Antic addressed the issue on Friday saying there was "public
controversy" about the compliance of the solution found in the energy law
draft with the deadlines for issuing construction permits under the Law on
Planning and Construction, but that "it is not possible to now abolish the
obligation to issue a decision on the connection to the network."
"We recognize the need to provide investors with all the benefits, but we
were not able to simply accept the abolition of the issuing of a decision,
because it guarantees a safe and high quality power supply," said the
minister. He pointed out that in the period up to the full enforcement of the
Law on Planning and Construction this issue would be "harmonized at the
government level," but would remain in force until March 1 because
otherwise, he said, nobody would be able to connect to the electrical grid.
"This is a serious question that should not be answered that by a
politician or by an interest group, but only by the profession, and it stands
fully behind this solution," said Antic. He stressed that the new energy
law creates the conditions to set up an electricity exchange and protect all
customer categories, "but especially the energy-vulnerable customers, as
the government leads a responsible policy and continues to subsidize people who
are socially disadvantaged."
No comments:
Post a Comment