NIS Invests Over EUR 800 Million in Pancevo Oil Refinery So Far – Expansion of Sales Network Announced

Since 2009, over EUR 800 million has been invested in the modernization of the Pancevo Oil Refinery and it is now one of the most modern ones in the region, said the First Deputy CEO of NIS, Andrey Tuchnin, as announced by NIS.

In his interview for the Pancevac weekly, Tuchnin said that the recent beginning of the operations of the deep processing facility, in which over EUR 300 million was invested, was important not just for Serbia, but for the entire region, and that the project entailed substantial business and environmental benefits.

– The configuration of a refinery must be such that it can have a future, and when it comes to the complex in Pancevo, it now has one. The energy stability of Serbia in the future is thereby ensured thanks to this modernization, and that is also very important for the future of the country’s citizens – Tuchnin said.

– When there is no refinery, there is direct dependence on others, because one is forced to import oil products, which greatly affects the fiscal balance of a state. When a country has its own processing, it’s good for the independence, for the economic balance, for the tax system, for the employees – he said.

According to him, after the new facility starts operating at the Pancevo Oil Refinery, greater quantities of the best quality fuels will be produced, as well as a new product – oil coke, which so far has had to be imported to Serbia. He added that NIS was now looking into the possibility of an additional expansion of its sales network.

– Of course we are considering the expansion of the sales network. Previously, we were not able to do so due to the depth of the processing, but things are different now, because the processing of oil has its economic efficiency. We get a range of products from raw oil, and the products made by NIS are now in a better position in the market than they were before the deep processing started – Tuchnin said.

He added that the “Duboka Prerada” (“Deep Processing”) facility also meant an improvement in environmental protection.

– The emissions of nitrogen-dioxide and sulfur-dioxide are reduced, especially when it comes to sulfur, by 98%, and by 10% when it comes to nitrogen. Also, the emissions of powdered matters are reduced by 52.8% and the energy efficiency of the Refinery has been upgraded. Those are the key things when it comes to the ecological aspect of the beginning of the operations of “Duboka Prerada” – Tuchnin said and added that the cessation of the production of mazut with the high sulfur-content contributed to Serbia meeting its obligations to the Energy Community.

Tuchnin also said that NIS planned a further modernization of the refinery and the realization of the project for the improvement of environmental protection and that the first thing to follow was the modernization of the catalytic cracking facility.

NIS a.d. Novi Sad

NIS a.d. Petrol Rafinerija nafte Pančevo

Naftna industrija Srbije

Pančevo Oil Refinery

NIS

Andrej Tuchnin

investments in the refinery

deep processing

oil coke

mazut

catalytic cracking facility