State initiates administrative dispute over eco-fee for lubricants – Procedure against NIS as well

Minister of Agriculture Branislav Nedimovic stated that an administrative dispute had been initiated against everyone who had failed to pay the eco-fee for the production and import of lubricants, including NIS, Blic reports.

– I am no longer in charge of the environmental protection sector, but I haven't left this case to my successor to deal with it, but solved it. We have issued our decisions and there's an administrative dispute over the eco-fees being carried out – Nedimovic said for today's issue of Blic.

Nedimovic said that it was natural for companies to want to reduce the amounts prescribed by law.

– Everybody has to pay their obligations. I believe that my colleagues will take the same position. Whoever the polluter is, they need to pay the eco-fee, NIS included – Nedimovic said.

Blic writes that NIS has not paid this fee since its implementation in 2010 and that this costs the state budget EUR 1.5 million a year, the amount the company should pay for the 11,000 tons of lubricant produced. This practically means that the state is going to try to collect all the back debts, which amount to close to EUR 9 million.

NIS has sent the following response to Blic:

– In the past period, we have been constantly communicating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection regarding the obligation of paying the eco-fee, including the question of the subject and the height of the fee that could potentially be NIS's obligation to pay, in line with positive regulations, including the ratified agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the Russian Federation on cooperation in the field of oil and gas industry. According to findings currently available to us, the administrative procedure regarding this issue has not yet been completed, and we have no information that an administrative dispute has been initiated.

NIS a.d. Novi Sad

Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede Republike Srbije

Naftna Industrija Srbije

NIS

Ministry of Agriculture

Branislav Nedimovic

eco fee

administrative dispute over failure to pay eco fee

paying eco fee