Serbia to get 1 billion EUR worth of donation from EU - Head of European Commission put in operation new remote heating system in Užice

(Vincent Degert)

The Head of European Commission in Serbia, Vicent Degert, has put in operation the new remote heating system, in which EU invested 4.5m EUR, and announced new donations for infrastructure.

European Union is going to invest about 1 billion EUR worth of non-refundable means in Serbia within the next five years.

That aid will be provided for infrastructure and other fields.

Vincent Degert has put in operation the new modern boiler powered by natural gas and crude oil in in central city block Lipa. This project worth about 4.5m EUR also included new gas boiler rooms in settlement Aleksića Most, conversion of boiler room "Senjak" and reconstruction of heating plants in Sevojno, Krčagovo and block "Zlatibor".

Also, about three kilometers of old hot water pipeline have been reconstructed, while 78 substations have been completely modernized and equipped with the elements for regulation and thermometers, which will make it possible for public utility company "Toplota" to start charging users for heating energy per consumption.

Progress has also been made in the field of environment protection, while energy efficiency is going to be significantly improved. Thus, Užice is ready for introduction of natural gas, the fuel that should resolve the problem of high level of air pollution, one of the key problems of this city.

– All these boilers, tubing, pumps are of European quality and represent the cutting-edge technology. Thanks to that quality and reliability of the system, the losses will be avoided, number of users will be increased (25%), and what is particularly important is the fact that this project will improve the quality of air in the city that is situated in the basin surrounded by hills – said Degert.

The Mayor of Užice, Jovan Marković, reminded that significant projects in the fields of health care, ecology and education, worth about 14m EUR, had been implemented in the city on the Đetinja river thanks to EU's investments over the previous few years.