Construction of bio-ethanol unit in Zrenjanin postponed for six months

Construction of the unit for bio-ethanol production in Zrenjanin, which, according to the contract signed between Hungarian-American consortium "Biotech Energy" and the President of Town Hall of Zrenjanin, Goran Knežević, should have started at the end of March, has been postponed for six months. Realization of the contract worth 380m EUR, according to Goran Knežević, has been prolonged due to lack of appropriate regulations.

- In order for construction to start, it is necessary that the two problems be solved at the level of the State. These two problems are problem with raw materials and the problem with standardization, that is, technical-technological norms. We still do not have the law on bio-ethanol - the President of Town Hall of Zrenjanin, Goran Knežević, warned at conference "Renewable fuels-path toward economic independence", which was held today (May 8, 2007) in Belgrade-based hotel "Hyatt", in the organization of "Ekonomist Media Group".

Pointing out that the Municipality of Zrenjanin signed about 20 contracts worth 600m EUR in the previous period, thanks to the existence of free zone, Goran Knežević expressed hope that Zrenjanin would get the ethanol factory prior to year 2009 and, in that way, maintain strategic direction towards high technologies and fuels of the future.