Pančevo Oil Refinery receives IPPC license for pollution prevention

Pančevo-based Oil Refinery, part of the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS), has received an integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) license. The refinery is the first energy facility in Serbia to receive such permit, NIS announced.

NIS said in a statement that the license guarantees that the production process in the refinery is fully aligned with the highest domestic and European standards in the field of environmental protection. Pančevo Oil Refinery is also obliged to keep taking into account the environmental impact of its further activities, applying the Best Available Techniques (BAT), and investing in the field of environmental protection.

In 2014, Serbia aligned its legislation with the EU Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC), adopting the Law on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control.

According to the preliminary list from 2005, 245 installations in Serbia had to obtain an IPPC license by the end of 2015. In the meantime, the revision of the list has been announced.

EUR 3 million invested in environmental projects in the refinery

NIS announced that, in order to fulfill the IPPC license requirements, complex projects were implemented in the Oil Refinery to improve environmental protection, and waste management and to increase energy efficiency. More than EUR 3 million were invested in those projects, the company said.

NIS Director General Kiril Tjurdenjeev said that NIS was not only committed to obtain IPPC permit for Pančevo Oil Refinery because it is a legal obligation, but because the company wants to apply the highest domestic and European standards.

“We will not stop here, we will continue to continuously improve production processes in order to protect the environment and increase energy efficiency, confirming that for NIS, no business success is complete unless it is accompanied by environmental responsibility,”  Tjurdenjev said.

Pančevo Oil Refinery produces fuel, solvents, bitumen and raw materials for the petrochemical industry. The Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) has put into operation the refinery in November 2012, after extensive modernization in which it had invested around EUR 550 million.

Russian Gazpromneft took over NIS in February 2009. It bought Serbian oil company for EUR 400 million, but it was obliged under the purchase agreement to invest at least EUR 500 million in the modernization of production by 2012.