Serbian power, gas suppliers increase debts in 2022

NEWS 08.12.202212:28
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The Serbian power company’s debt was increased to more than 1.5 billion Euro this year, the Belgrade-based Macroeconomic Analyses and Trends (MAT) newsletter said on Thursday adding that the same trend was reported in the national natural gas supplier Srbijagas.

It said that the Serbian Electricity Company (EPS) increased its debts by 50 percent in the first three quarters of the year with losses standing at 678 million Euro because of lower production from hydro-power plants and electricity imports at record high prices while maintaining low prices for guaranteed supplies. The MAT report said that imports were paid for mainly by taking out new loans.

In comparison, the EPS reported profits of 110 million Euro in 2020 and losses of 127 million Euro in 2021.
The EPS bought 1,244 Gwh of power at 233 Euro per Mwh (a total of some 290 million Euro) in 2021 and bought 2,907 Gwh at 254 Euro per Mwh in the January-September period of 2022 (a total of 740 million Euro), selling power on the domestic market at four or five times lower prices.

The MAT report said that the national natural gas supplier Srbijagas increased its debts by 72 percent to 1.3 billion in 2021 but reported profits of 32 million Euro that year before the government froze its prices in December and covered all Srbijagas losses through the budget. In the winter of 2021-22, Srbijagas bought 1.9 billion Euro worth of natural gas which it sold in Serbia for 604 million Euro, the report said adding that the trend continued into this winter.