Prime Minister Ana Brnabić said that the Serbian government is still negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about the increase in electricity price and that the government will try to ensure that there is no price increase or that it will be at least minimal.
“I had another working meeting with the members of the EPS Supervisory Board, with the Acting General Director of EPS, Dušan Živković, and with the Minister of Mining and Energy, Dubravka Đedović, regarding the upcoming heating season. We are fully prepared for winter. We have over 2.1 million tonnes of coal reserves and we daily approximately 100,000 tons of coal from our mines”, she said, according to Euronews.
The prime minister also stated that the government might initiate negotiations with the port of Ploče on additional storage capacities for Serbian coal, adding there is no need for the drastic increase in electricity price.
The Prime Minister also spoke about higher excise duties.
“Regarding the increase in excise duties… This is practical and foreseen in the budget review. However, when we talk about it, we should always keep in mind that the increase is done in parallel with the increase in (civil servant) salaries and pensions. We announced an additional salary increase – at least 10 percent in the public sector from January 1, 2024, an additional increase in pensions from January 1, 2024 by 14.6 percent and one-time financial support for pensioners of 20,000 dinars until the end of November,” she explained.
Brnabić added that there would also be a substantial increase in the minimum wage in January 2024.
(Biznis.rs, 14.09.2023)
https://biznis.rs/vesti/srbija/o-rastu-cene-struje-vlada-srbije-jos-uvek-pregovara-sa-mmf-om/
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