Completion of new oxygen plant in Bor expected in early 2014 - Messer Tehnogas to invest over EUR 20 million

Messer Tehnogas, which operates as part of the Messer Group from Germany, is going to invest over EUR 20 million in the construction of a new oxygen plant in Bor, Messer Tehnogas CEO Ernst Bode told Tanjug news agency Wednesday (13 March 2013).

He said at the Kopaonik Business Forum that there were certain delays in the implementation of that project due to bureaucratic obstacles in our country.

As it was announced, construction of the new plant should be completed in early 2014. Once put into operation, it will be producing 10,000 cubic meters of oxygen and 7,000 cubic meters of nitrogen per hour. Messer bought an old factory for producing oxygen in Bor in 2009 for USD 2.7 million.

By the way, Messer Tehnogas operates in Serbia since 1997 and employs more than 330 workers at its factories in Bor, Nis, Pancevo, Novi Sad, Belgrade, Pozega and Kraljevo. This company also has production facilities in Montenegro.

- Our company has so far contributed in excess of EUR 100 million to Serbia - said Bode.

He noted that the price of electricity in Serbia for high-voltage consumers had gone up significantly, adding that that additionally aggravated the operations of 26 companies. As he explained, electricity price in Serbia for this type of consumers is 30 percent higher than in Germany and 16 percent higher than in Hungary.

The Electric Power Company of Serbia (EPS) announced in February that it would no longer supply electric energy to the Messer company as that company had concluded an electricity supply agreement with the Slovenian electricity seller GEN-I.