Electricity price increase of 12% set for August

Higher budget revenues will be the main effect of the new 7.5% excise duty on electricity, Serbian finance minister Dušan Vujović said, state-owned Tanjug agency reports. The cost of electricity in Serbia is currently RSD 4.97 (4.12 euro cents) per kWh, plus 0.88 euro cents in tax, he said in the National Assembly.

Mining and energy minister Aleksandar Antić announced on June 11 that the price of electricity in Serbia will increase 12% on August 1, the Government of Serbia said, as reported by the media. At a press conference in the government headquarters, he added that the price hike was agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and pointed out that the socially disadvantaged will have 120 to 250 kWh per month for free.

The price of electricity in Serbia will remain by far the lowest in Europe, and will be 50% cheaper than in Montenegro, two times cheaper than in Croatia and 15% below the price in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Antić said. He noted that the price increase is necessary to ensure a stable power system, new investments in the energy system of the country and the creation of new jobs. The 7.5 percentage points from the price hike proceeds belong to the state budget, while the remaining 4.5 points would go to EPS, the country’s power monopoly.