Serbia needs EUR 27 billion to reach decarbonization goals

Serbia needs EUR 27 billion to reach its decarbonization goals, according to Milan Laković, Executive Director for Finance at state-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Srbije. He added that the company intends to secure funds for investments on the capital market as well.

“To make the decarbonization process sustainable, it is necessary for all parties to be involved, as the total capital costs required to achieve the goals reach EUR 27 billion by 2050,” Milan Laković, Executive Director for Finance at Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS), revealed.

At the panel titled Financial Challenges of the Energy Transition, within the Energy, Projects, Security conference at the Zlatibor mountain, he explained that it is important to ensure a proper financing structure, favorable interest rates, and a sufficiently long repayment period.

Laković claimed that it isn’t possible to implement the green transition from own resources.

It is important to involve the state, international development banks and financial institutions, commercial banks, and certainly to enter the capital market, he added.

EPS expects to obtain a credit rating

“The goal of EPS is to enter the domestic and foreign capital markets. First, we expect to obtain a credit rating, and if there are adequate renewables projects, conditions will be created for issuing our first green bonds on the Serbian capital market,” Laković announced.

He believes that the land owned by EPS and its grid connections represent significant resources for the development of renewables projects.

Company ready to purchase mature green energy projects

The oldest units in thermal power plants, in his view, will have to be disconnected from the grid, and while they are on the grid, solar power plants and wind farms can be developed. It is necessary for EPS to be more agile and present on the market and to develop relations with private investors, he pointed out.

“EPS is ready to enter into joint investments and fair power purchase agreements (PPAs), but also to purchase mature or completed renewables projects,” Laković explained.

Of note, the company posted a RSD 42.3 billion (EUR 360.3 million) profit for 2025, a significant increase from RSD 26.1 billion (EUR 220 million) from the previous year.