Serbia to raise electricity prices by end-Q1 - energy minister

In a talk show broadcasted on local B92 TV channel on Tuesday Mihajlovic stopped short of speculating what the price hike would be but said there would be no increase in January.

“Before setting up the new prices we have to prepare social cards for socially vulnerable customers, which will be completed by the end of the year," she said, adding that social cards, which are needed for market liberalisation, have not been prepared in Serbia in the past 12 years.

A new tariff system will be drafted in January as part of the planned deregulation of Serbia's energy market so that those who consume more electricity pay more, while those who use less or are socially vulnerable pay less, Mihajlovic said.

Also on Tuesday, an official from the Serbian Energy Agency, AERS, said the country would deregulate 9.5% of its electricity market and 40% of its gas market from January 1 as a step towards reaching full liberalisation by 2015.

Local media reported last week that the Serbian government planned to raise electricity prices by 12% in February next year and increase natural gas prices by 10% by the end of 2012 in response to sustained pressure from state-owned power producer EPS and gas monopoly Srbijagas.