Investment in oil refinery in Smederevo worth EUR 2.4 billion – Compliance with highest environmental standards promised

According to the agreement between the Government of Serbia and China Energy International Group, close to EUR 2.4 billion will be invested in the new oil refinery in Smederevo and it will be built in compliance with the highest environmental standards, the minister of mining and energy of Serbia, Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic, said for the Politika daily.

She said that the Framework Agreement on the project of the construction of an oil refinery in Smederevo, signed between the Government of Serbia and China Energy International Group for a period of two years, planned the construction of a refinery in which the most modern technologies will be implemented and in which heavy and light crude oil will be processed.

She added that the time needed for the construction and commissioning of the new refinery was estimated at around four years from the day of the obtaining of the building permit.

– Direct hiring of 700 permanent employees and indirect hiring of 2,400 workers is planned at the refinery. The owner and operator will be a Chinese oil company – said Djedovic Handanovic.

As she said, these are fully new facilities and equipment, and not the reconstruction and repair of the existing ones.

According to her, this greenfield project entails the opening of a new facility for the processing of crude oil, with a capacity of up to 100,000 barrels a day and the production of oil products in line with the highest technological and environmental standards.

– Crude oil will be delivered to the refinery in Smederevo by an oil pipeline, which means that, from Pancevo to the location in Smederevo, a new leg will be built for the needs of the future refinery – Djedovic Handanovic said and added that the claim that the project would contribute to the state’s debts was not based on any analysis.

She also pointed out that the citizens and the non-governmental sector would be able to take part in the preparation of the documentation for the construction of the refinery, both during the preparation of the spatial plan and during the preparation of the environmental impact assessment study.

She said that the aim of the Government of Serbia was to meet the highest environmental standards, but that the state could not abandon project using only the excuse of their environmental impact.

– In this case, there are no surprises, and the citizens should not fear, because everything will be done in line with the highest environmental standards – said Djedovic Handanovic.

She also reminded that, in the oil sector, Serbia was highly dependent on the import of energy, with a relatively low share of its own oil production within the total demand and that before, in addition to the refinery in Pancevo, it had also had the one in Novi Sad, which had been heavily damaged during the NATO bombing in 1999, without the possibility of reconstruction.

– The fact that, up till 25 years ago, Serbia had two refineries, speaks in favor of the realization of this project – Djedovic Handanovic said for Politika.

Ministarstvo rudarstva i energetike Republike Srbije

Vlada Republike Srbije

China Energy International Group

Dubravka Đedović Handanović

oil refinery in Smederevo

Framework Agreement on the project of the construction of an oil refinery in Smederevo

construction of oil refinery Smederevo