Serbia will invest 320 million euros in strengthening the electricity distribution network, Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic said. She reminded that a proposal for a law on the guaranteed financing of distribution network operator Elektrodistribucija Srbije (EDS) is in the Parliamentary procedure. The adoption of this legislation will enable the replacement of old wooden electricity poles that caused outages due to storms.
Serbian Government started the long-awaited reforms in the energy sector by changing the legal form of EPS, amendments to the Law on the Use of Renewable Energy Sources, and now is preparing amendments to the Law on Energy which will improve the management of our energy companies, primarily the electricity and natural gas transmission system operators EMS and Transportgas.
Minister Djedovic pointed out that these changes harmonize local legislation with the regulations of the European Union and separate the management of EMS and Transportgas for them to be finally certified by Serbian energy regulator AERS and European regulatory agencies. With these proposed amendments, complete management separation is carried out, so that EPS and Srbijagas can remain under the auspices of the Ministry of Mining and Energy, and thus the Government, while EMS and Transportgas fall under the jurisdiction of the Republic Commission for Energy Networks, an independent state body established by this law. The establishment and control over this Commission is the responsibility of the Parliament, which will appoint its members and president, and adopt the strategy, business programs and annual reports.
