Montenegro’s power utility Elektroprivreda Crne Gore will take out a loan of EUR 50 million to purchase electricity to supply consumers in the country.
The Government of Montenegro, upon the proposal of the Ministry of Finance, has issued an approval for Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG) to borrow EUR 50 million from Erste Bank to finance the purchase of the lacking quantities of electricity.
The loan is necessary to ensure the continuity of electricity supply while the Pljevlja thermal power plant is offline due to the ongoing ecological reconstruction project, the government said.
The investment aims to bring the power plant’s operation in line with EU emission standards
The works at Montenegro’s only coal-fired facility began in April 2022, and it has been offline since the end of March this year. The plant, which accounts for 40% of domestic electricity production, is scheduled to return to operations after seven and a half months. The investment is intended to reduce its emissions to align them with the European Union’s standards.
EPCG previously announced that it had already purchased about 75% of the electricity it required – 600 GWh, for which it paid around EUR 60 million. The remaining quantities needed for the third quarter, approximately 200 GWh, are planned to be purchased during the second quarter, the company said.
The company’s request was supported by the Ministry of Finance
According to the government’s new decision, the Ministry of Finance supported EPCG’s request.
It noted that EPCG achieved a net profit of EUR 10.2 million in 2024, which is 80.51%, or EUR 42.2 million, lower than in 2023, when it amounted to EUR 52.5 million. The projected profit for 2024 was EUR 3.4 million, the ministry recalled.
Of note, the company recently said it planned to take out a EUR 25.6 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to finance the second phase of the Gvozd wind farm project.
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