By the end of September this year, the Electric Power Company of Montenegro (EPCG) was operating with a deficit of as much as 80 million euros.
This was announced in an interview with Television Vijesti by the acting director of EPCG, Bojan Đordan, who expects business to stabilize in the next year or two.
However, he will probably not be in a leading position then, because he did not submit his candidacy for a full term.
He also revealed to Television Vijesti whether poor results in this year's business will lead to a jump in electricity prices.
Đordan revealed that EPCG operated with a large, but expected, deficit until the end of September.
"For the first three quarters of this year, Elektroprivreda is operating with a deficit of around 80 million. The dominant reason is primarily the downtime in the operation of the Thermal Power Plant, where we are missing an amount of energy of around 550 gigawatt hours for the first nine months, which is around 45 to 50 million euros in market terms. Unfortunately, we also have poor hydrology," Đordan pointed out.
He expects the financial result to move from minus to plus within a year or two at the most. This will be achieved, first of all, by the completion of the ecological reconstruction of the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant.
"We expect it to be completed in accordance with the contract. As for the contract, December 1st is certainly the deadline for putting the Thermal Power Plant into operation," said Đordan.
Poor business performance should not lead to an increase in electricity prices, at least for now, although Đordan does not deny that the market is sometimes unforgiving.
"If the power company wants to operate on a market basis, it will certainly need to think about price corrections, but for now we are remaining stable at this price level, which is also the case for some foreseeable period, I think that will not happen, that they will remain as they are and at this level as they are now," said Đordan.
However, Đordan warns of increased electricity consumption, which has exceeded even the period when Montenegro had a developed industry.
"All other energy sources have become very expensive on the market, whether it's firewood, pellets or something else, but those two basic heating sources, in addition to electricity, have become much more expensive compared to the period 4-5 years ago, while the price of electricity remains at the same level as in 2011," said Đordan.
If the price increase occurs soon, Đordan will not be able to wait for it in his top position at EPCG since he did not submit his candidacy for a full term.
"It's simply a combination of personal things, personal circumstances, that's dominant," said Đordan.
The Board of Directors appointed Đordan as acting director after dismissing Ivan Bulatović from the position at the end of October, who claims he was unlawfully dismissed.
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