January 8 (SeeNews) - Serbian state-owned power utility EPS said that it will merge its five electricity distribution companies into two by the end of 2013 to comply with EU legislation on power supply aimed at liberalizing the electricity market by 2015.
EPS will be transformed in accordance with the rules of the European Union, EPS’s director Aleksandar Obradovic said for the local B92 TV channel on Sunday.
Electricity distribution companies Elektrovojvodine, EDB, Centar, Jugoistok and Elektrosrbija, all run by EPS, should merge into two companies – a network maintenance operator and a public supplier of electricity for consumers at regulated prices, Obradovic explained.
EU internal electricity market directive, designed to ensure efficient and non-discriminatory network access, says that independent management structures must be in place between distribution system operators, transmission system operators and producers.
The Serbian Energy Agency, AERS, said in December that the country will deregulate 9.5% of its electricity market from January 1 as part of a process aimed at reaching full liberalization by 2015. In the first phase, 27 large industrial consumers will have to start buying their power on the deregulated segment as of 2013.
EPS has signed three contracts to supply high-voltage electricity consumers so far with Belgrade-based power utility Beogradske Elektrane, local mining company Rudnik Kovin and oil and gas company NIS.