Dušan Živković, General Director of the Electric Power Company of Serbia (EPS), stated that not all companies or households in Serbia regularly pay for electricity, despite publicly available data on debtors. He emphasized that energy companies need to improve revenue collection to ensure that all consumers fairly pay their share.
“Some companies, including state-owned enterprises, and certain households do not pay for the energy they consume. This is unfair to those who do pay, as costs are passed on to other consumers or taxpayers,” Živković said. EPS has published, and Srbijagas will soon release, lists of their 50 largest debtors to draw attention to the issue.
As of July 21, total debt to EPS from the 50 largest debtors amounts to 25.3 billion dinars, including 11.5 billion under repayment plans. Some debtors, such as “Železara Smederevo,” are in bankruptcy, owing six billion dinars that will likely never be recovered. Of the total debt, 9.5 billion comes from companies in bankruptcy or liquidation, and 2.1 billion has already been settled.
Živković also confirmed that, for the first time this year, EPS will avoid taking on new debt and will finance operations entirely from its own resources.
