The prices of the Heating service in Pljevlje for citizens will soon be increased by about 50 percent, while the prices for legal entities will remain unchanged.
This was said by the executive director of Grijanja, Vlade Tošić, at today's session of the local parliament.
The company Grijanje manages the city boiler house in the city center, which heats 397 apartments and 72 business premises in the city center with a total area of 33.654 square meters. About 1.800 tons of coal are burned annually in the boiler room.
The current heating price for residential premises is EUR 0,60 per square meter apartment, and EUR 1,92 per square meter for business premises without VAT.
Last year, the company earned 446.888 euros from charging for heating services, almost 90 percent of all revenues generated last year.
In the opposition, they believe that after the Parliament adopted the tariff system for calculating the consumption of heat energy, which implies paying for the service in proportion to the user's consumption, the prices of heating services will be significantly more expensive and that the district heating system in Pljevlja will collapse.
"I think that you did everything in the previous years to collapse the district heating system in Plejvlje. I don't know if you objected in 2017 when the mayor signed the decision on the heating service. We still use that solution today," said Tošić. He pointed out that the introduction of the tariff system is a legal obligation and that due to non-adoption, you lost disputes in the previous period.
President of the Board of Directors of Grijanja Predrag Cvijović said that "it is normal that there must be an increase in prices, because all inputs have increased in price".
"At the next session, you will certainly receive a new price list. Whether you adopt it or not is up to you. The current management is not to blame for such hirings in previous years. You must know that when this company was separated into a separate company, it had 18 employees. This year, if we do not change, due to the new Branch collective agreement, 120.000 euros is a guaranteed minus for the company. The salary calculation for 2024 will be around 420.000, and if we collect one hundred percent of the payment and have a little more work, these salaries will affect 85 percent of the company's costs. The company is not of public interest, and the consumption we supply is less than ten percent of the city's consumption. This is still the most luxurious type of heating," said Cvijović.
He said that the company's accumulated loss from the previous year was EUR 586.000
DPS member Haris Alavać believes that the price of heating in 2025 will be even higher.
"This year there will be a 50 percent increase and next year it will be even higher, given that they have 200.000 new inputs... The tariffs were brought down without prior analysis. All these losses that someone accumulated in the previous period are now spilling over to the citizens of Pljevlja, i.e. the users of the services", said Alavać.
He warned that many users of the heating service will cancel the service due to high prices and switch to some other form of heating their apartments.
Nova councilor Ana Jović said that Grijanje got into its current difficult situation due to the negligent leadership of the previous management, which was appointed by the coalition led by DPS.
"The councilors are in an unenviable position today because we have to increase prices in order for these companies to remain viable and at the service of citizens, due to your wrong leadership in the past period," said Jović.
DPS councilor Saša Ječmenica said that this tariff system shows that the price of heating per square meter will be 1,05 euros in a fixed amount, and the variable during the heating season will be added another 59 cents. So the heating price will be 1,65 euros in the season and 76 euro in the off-season. Which means that an apartment of 560 square meters will cost 1.500 euros instead of annual costs of around XNUMX euros. The consequence of all this is that people will start disconnecting from your system following a simplified procedure, so the cost will be transferred to those users who remained. You will have an exodus of system users and the final shutdown of Heating. That will happen in the next year or two," Ječmenica said.
President of the Board of Directors of Grijanja Predrag Cvijović said that this is a political story and that citizens are not afraid of "this price".
"We need a complete price for heating, which will cover all production costs," said Cvijović.
He said that in the last two or three years, 7-8 new workers were hired.
The municipal company Grijanje, which manages the city's heating plant in the city center, ended last year with a loss, which, according to the company, was most affected by unscrupulous employment in the administration.
"The company operated with a loss in the amount of 31.019 euros. Unconscionable employment in the administration at the end of 2022 and at the beginning of 2023 had the biggest impact on the loss-making business, so from the above it can be seen that almost 50 percent of all employees are in the administration, according to the report on the work of Grijanj for the past year, which was signed by executive director Vlade Tošić.
The company has 33 permanent employees, 16 of whom work in administration and 17 in production. The current management accuses the previous one of doing everything to put the company in a difficult situation.
"Analyzing the business, one comes to the conclusion that the company is over-indebted. In July and August, there was a change of management in the Company. It also stated that the previous management did everything to bring the company to an unenviable position," Tošić states in the report.
He also says that paying for services per square meter of heated surface does not create conditions for optimal heat consumption, which would certainly be lower, because users would take care to reduce consumption. In this way, the burning of coal would be less with all the accompanying effects.
"The adoption of the tariff system, changes to the Decision on the supply of thermal energy and changes to the Regulations on the operation of the distribution system would have a positive effect on all indicators of the Company's operations. Due to all of the above, measures must be taken in the coming period that contribute to the rehabilitation and improvement of business operations, the preservation of the environment and employee standards, through: reduction of business costs, to the extent applicable; finding a way to compensate for the disparity between the cost price and the selling price of thermal energy; rehabilitation and reconstruction of the distribution network; installation of equipment for hydraulic balancing, as a presumption of uniform quality of heating for all users", says Tošić.
From the boiler room in Skerlićeva, the company heats 397 apartments and 72 business premises in the city center with a total area of 33.654 square meters. About 1.800 tons of coal are burned annually in the boiler room.
He also points out that the property is in bad condition and is technically outdated, and that construction facilities and equipment are highly depreciated, which points to the conclusion of the need to invest in fixed assets.
Water and energy losses in the distribution network are reduced.
"It is necessary to analyze the installation of the necessary filters or multicyclones for the purification of flue gases, in order to eliminate the negative impact on the environment and residents who are located in the immediate vicinity of the boiler house in the city center, where it is positioned, as well as due to the large number of complaints and lawsuits and reporting to inspections by users, who are in the immediate vicinity of the chimney of the boiler house", says Tošić.
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