Serbia’s EPS earns over EUR 500 million in first half of 2023

State-owned energy company Elektroprivreda Srbije achieved a profit of RSD 61.8 billion (EUR 527.3 million) in the first half of 2023, driven by an increase in production and cost reduction.

The financial result of Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) for the January-June period marks a huge improvement, having in mind that in the first half of 2022 the Serbian company suffered a loss of RSD 49.3 billion (EUR 420.6 million). For comparison, the utility was RSD 73.7 billion (EUR 629 million) in the red for the entire year.

The recovery started in the first quarter of this year with RSD 34.5 billion (EUR 294 million) in net income.

The result was fueled by an increase in electricity production, driven by favorable hydrological conditions, lower costs of purchasing coal for thermal power plants, a windfall from electricity exports and a drop in costs, EPS said.

Hydropower plants increased production by 40%

In addition, good planning contributed to the sales of surplus electricity, according to the report on the implementation of EPS’s three-year business plan for the first half of the year.

Production at hydropower and coal power plants came in at 17.8 TWh or 16% more than in the comparable period of 2022. Hydropower plant output spiked 40% while coal power plants registered a 3% increase.

EPS’s expenditures amounted to RSD 186 billion (EUR 1.6 billion) or RSD 28 billion (EUR 239 million) less than in the same period of last year.

Electricity purchase costs were lowered from RSD 71.7 billion (EUR 612 million) to RSD 19.6 billion (EUR 167.2 million), according to the report.

EPS is looking for a new CEO

In December 2021, Serbia’s largest coal-fired thermal power plants suffered a massive breakdown. EPS lost RSD 73.7 billion (EUR 629 million) in 2022, but the situation gradually improved and the company announced in January that it was no longer dependent on electricity imports. Soon after that, it achieved record exports.

Following a series of outages and fires, Miroslav Tomašević replaced Milorad Grčić as acting director of EPS in March 2022. Under his leadership, the company recuperated, but he was still replaced two months ago.

EPS is undergoing transformation. The process formally began with the adoption of a new statute for EPS and the change of status from a public company into a joint stock company. Next, the government appointed a seven-member supervisory board including three Norwegian experts.

The panel soon replaced Tomašević and picked Dušan Živković as acting director.

Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović, the only member of EPS’s assembly, recently told Balkan Green Energy News in an interview that the chief executive officer would be selected through an international public call. It was launched last week.