On Wednesday (26 April), Serbia’s Minister of Mining and Energy, Dubravka Đedović held a meeting with the representatives of the Working Party of the EU Council for Enlargement and Countries Leading Accession Negotiations (COELA).
“Serbia is determined to continue harmonising its legal framework with EU regulations, which we are working on together with other ministries through activities within Cluster 4 – Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity. The development of the Integrated National Plan for Energy and Climate is underway, which will define the goals for RES, energy efficiency and gas emissions, which should be adopted during this year and which will determine our path of energy transition and decarbonisation, Minister Đedović said.
Ms Đedović emphasised that Serbia is at the beginning of a major investment cycle in the energy sector. She thanked the EU for its financial support in developing a transmission network with neighbours in the power sector via the Trans-Balkan Corridor project, and diversifying gas supplies thanks to the construction of the Serbia-Bulgaria gas interconnector.
“It is necessary to pay special attention to the fairness of the green transition, to the financial and social consequences that the transition brings, and to take care of employees and local communities that rely on coal during the transition to cleaner energy sources. Through amendments to the Law on the Use of RES, we will enable greater compliance with EU regulations and create conditions for increasing energy production from renewable sources and their sustainable integration into the system. Also, we are working intensively on transferring the package of electric power regulations into our legislation, which should be completed by the end of this year,” she added.
During the meeting, progress was noted in Serbia’s security of supply via the increase of oil reserves and oil contracts as well as the construction of new storage capacities. Both sides also discussed the completed separation of activities and plans for reforming companies in the power sector, as well as the implementation of reforms in the gas sector based on the action plan adopted by the Serbian government.
