Is Cheap Local Electricity for the Economy the Best Response to the Crisis? – “The State Could Also Waive a Part of Their Charges”

In the situation when the prices of energy sources are jumping dramatically in the world and when the economy is finding it increasingly more difficult to handle those costs, the state is announcing the forming of a work group that will deal with this problem. In the meantime, the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia (CCIS), Marko Cadez, made a proposition to enable the economy to get electricity from local sources at capped prices. The question, however, is whether Serbia would thereby violate the international obligations it took upon itself, what kind of impact it would have on its efforts to join the EU in the sense of meeting the requests of the Chapter on Energy and how the Energy Community would react, because there’s also the question of the violation of the principle of competitiveness.

Commenting on this proposition, the editor of the Energija Balkana portal, Jelica Putnikovic, says that there shouldn’t be a situation where everything is put on EPS, in terms of ordering it to sell electricity at lower prices to the economy.

– As others are in a free market, so is EPS – she says for eKapija and adds that, in this situation, the state has other mechanisms it can use. – For example, it can waive the excise tax on electrical energy, which is calculated in, or a part of the tax, thereby helping the entire economy, because, of course, it is important for companies to continue working, because that enables them to fill the budget.

Still, she says that “in these extraordinary circumstances, no one is thinking anymore about Brussels, the European laws or the free market”.

– France is also announcing that it will find a solution for its economy – Putnikovic says.

She says that, in the past days, numerous traders of electrical energy have stopped working in Serbia.

– They simply couldn’t withstand the price pressure. They have to buy it from the producer and then resell it to the consumer, and they also have to make a profit, and now there’s simply no room for making a profit, because it’s not like they can get cheap electricity from the producers. EPS will certainly not sell electricity to traders at lower prices so that they would resell it to the economy – eKapija’s interviewee says.

She believes that the question now is how the state, in cooperation with EPS, can make a good strategy, not just in this situation, but also in all the future energy crises and disturbances in the market.

– Many analysts emphasize that the energy transition toward green energy, with wind and solar power, cannot meet all the energy needs. When the wind doesn’t blow, you need traditional sources, either nuclear power plants or thermal power plants which use coal or gas – says Jelica Putnikovic.

eKapija has also sent questions about a potential capping of the prices of the electricity that EPS would sell to the economy to the Sector for Electrical Energy at the Energy Community and we are expecting their response.

B. P.

Privredna komora Srbije

JP Elektroprivreda Srbije - Ogranak TENT Obrenovac

CCIS

Elektroprivreda Srbije

Energy Community

Energija balkana

Marko Čadež

Jelica Putniković

electricity

price

economy

price cap

competition

electricity traders