Antic: No electricity price hike as from April 1

BELGRADE - Serbia's Energy Minister Aleksandar Antic said on Thursday that the price of electricity would not go up as from April 1, although that had been the deadline agreed with international financial institutions.

The government believes that the price should be raised gradually, given the difficult social and economic situation, Antic said. "By the end of the heating season, there will be no change in the price of electric energy, so the electricity price will stay the same as from April 1," the minister told reporters during a break at the fourth regional conference of the Biznis Plus business club.

The heating season ends on April 15.

The Serbian government is holding talks with the Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS), Energy Agency, and international financial institutions responsible for monitoring public finances and public enterprises, he said. "We are under pressure from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to bring the electricity price to an economic level, but the government is trying to do this gradually, over a long period, with consideration to family budgets," Antic said.

Photo Tanjug, D. Peternek (archive photo)

Continue reading on: