State companies owe EPS around EUR 200 million – List topped by RTB Bor and Zelezara Smederevo

Source: Blic Thursday, 16.08.2018. 11:41
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(Photo: Katarina Stevanović)
As of June 10, the claims of Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) from public and state companies amount to RSD 22 billion, that is, close to EUR 200 million, a sum nearly identical to last year's.

This means that the IMF's request from the previous arrangement, under which the debt should have been reduced and the delayed payment for electricity stopped, has not been honored. RTB Bor is the biggest culprit, as it owes, with its three subsidiaries, a total of RSD 7.5 billion. It is followed by Zelezara Smederevo d.o.o. with RSD 4.6 billion, Rudnik Resavica (1.5 billion), Energetika Kragujevac (1.1 billion), Infostan Beograd, Toplana Bor, PKB, GSP Beograd, Azotara and many others, with their debts, however, being under a billion dinars each. As Blic writes, what's apparent is that, among the 20 biggest debtors, as many as five are from Bor, and their total debt amounts to RSD 8.3 billion. Another noticeable thing, Blic writes, is that neither of these companies has had the power cut off, whereas power is cut off for regular citizens for debts amounting to only RSD 10,000.

The Blic source from EPS claims that they mustn't cut off the power for these debtors, as that is the government's position.

– If companies from the RTB Bor system were to have their power cut off, the economy of the entire Timocka Krajina would be disabled. We're talking several years worth of debts which can't be collected at the moment. It should be known that RTB has reduced the debt by over a billion dinars in the past six months, but their debts are still so high that there is no option for repaying those from previous years along with regular bills. It is especially important to emphasize that RTB Bor also generates debts of public enterprises in Bor. To clarify, it ignores it obligations towards Toplana and Vodovod, causing their debts to increase, and they now owe RSD 800 million for electricity – Blic interviewee says.


He adds that other public and state companies are also not regular payers.

– Some of them have not paid a dinar this year, such as Zelezara Smederevo d.o.o, whereas most of those from the list of the 20 biggest debtors pay negligible amounts. All in all, it appears that not even the IMF has managed to put a stop to this, even though they explicitly required the authorities to do so. EPS can't cut the power itself, as it doesn't have the government's authorization, although those EUR 200 million would be a valuable amount for investments in this company – Blic source says.
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