State paying out loans instead of Srbijagas

In the latest report of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Serbian representatives in the negotiations with that lender said that, instead of Srbijagas, two loans and the storage of gas in Hungary would be paid out from the budget of Serbia, Nova ekonomija reports.

The reasons for loan repayment from the state budget are “the extremely high costs of gas, procured for the Hungarian storage during the energy crisis.”

– That includes the revalorization of the gas in the storage site in Hungary using the market prices from May 1, 2024, and the compensation of Srbijagas by reducing the outstanding debts toward Serbia by EUR 275 million – the report says.

As said, two loans of Srbijagas with the state guarantee will also be paid out in 2024 (EUR 110.5 million) and 2025 (EUR 106.3 million), which were agreed during the energy crisis for the solving of the urgent needs for liquidity related to the big differences between the import and prices of gas and the local ones.

It is added that, considering that the report mostly concerns the operations of state companies the restructuring of EPS will require “plenty of time, and it seems that the situation in Srbijagas is being prolonged as well.”

According to the IMF report, EPS improved its operations when the prices were increased for the users, so the gas price will also be considered.

– Considering the significant lowering of the gas price for the corporate sector after May 1, we will do an analysis in order to examine the adequacy of the margin, currently set at an average of five percent, which is in the methodology of setting the prices of Srbijagas, and we will estimate whether there is room for increase so as to adjust the much-needed investments in the coming years – the report points out.

The Government of Serbia stopped subsidizing the prices of gas on May 1 this year and the company started forming the prices according to the market.

As the Serbian authorities claim, they are also planning to develop a system that would help protect consumer prices from the excessive short-term volatility in the markets of gas “in order to maintain the strong international attractiveness of Serbia as an investment destination.”

Međunarodni monetarni fond-MMF Beograd

JP Srbijagas Novi Sad

Elektroprivreda Srbije ad Beograd

International Monetary Fund

IMF

Srbjagas

EPS

procurement of gas

loans for procurement of gas

storage of gas in Hungary