The profit of Elektroprivreda (EPCG) in the first quarter of this year is 113.96 million euros, the director of that company, Nikola Rovčanin. – The profit from January to the end of March this year was 80 million euros higher than in the same period last year – Rovčanin wrote and announced that this is confirmed by the adopted financial report that will be published in accordance with the law.
It is bad news, that EPCG does not have the money to start the ecological reconstruction of the thermal power plant this year, which will further complicate the relations between Montenegro and the EU Energy Community.
Rovčanin’s data on the increase in the value of exports in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, however, does not match the official statistics. According to Monstat data, the export of electricity in the first quarter of this year was EUR 60 million higher than in the same period last year. More precisely, this year it was worth 126.2 million euros, and last year 66.2 million, which is an increase of 90.6 percent.
On the reference Hungarian electricity exchange HUPX in the first three months of this year, the average price of electricity was 136.09 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), which is 40 percent lower than last year in the same period, when the average price was 226. 25 euros per MWh. In the first three months, we imported electricity worth 7.55 million euros, which is 58 percent less than last year.
So, last year too, EPCG started announcing a profit of 100 million euros, because KAP and Željezara were removed from the list of consumers. And it ended with a nominal profit of 4.2 million euros, because CEDIS’s unpaid invoices of 9.5 million euros, which CEDIS does not keep in its bookkeeping, because it does not recognize them, were recorded in the earnings.
This year, however, by all accounts, the management of EPCG did not repeat last year’s mistake, which was pointed out by energy expert Branko Kotri, which is that this year they did not empty the reservoirs in the first quarter in order to catch high prices on the stock market. Especially since the thermal power plant will be out of operation until the beginning of June due to regular maintenance. About fifteen days ago, Rovčanin announced to TVCG that electricity will be imported during the overhaul period, but also added that EPCG has enough to compensate for it. – Beer is twice as full, Perućica reservoirs 40 to 50 percent, we are entering the second quarter with good positions. Our management conducted trade for July and August on the basis of surpluses in the first quarter at favorable prices, so we are covered in that part – announced Rovčanin.
In short, the financial condition of EPCG will depend, as it was before the arrival of A2A, only on the rain, which, luckily for them and us, has been abundant so far. But the first quarter has just ended, and the business result is counted at the end of the year.
Ivan Kilibarda resigned due to conflict with Milutin Đukanović
The president of the board of Solar Construction, Ivan Kilibarda, resigned, due to a conflict with the president of the Board of Directors of Elektroprivreda, Milutin Đukanović. Ljubiša Đurković was appointed in his place as acting official.
This is one of the consequences of the problems faced by this ad hoc company, which initially employed 500 people, and its task was to install solar panels on the roofs of houses and business premises for citizens who finance it with more favorable loans. Last year, the company’s balance was minus 2.2 million euros, salaries are late this year and employee protests have begun. In addition, the company installed 17 out of the planned 30 megawatts. However, only six megawatts were brought online, because this program is not covered by distribution capacities.
Grants to Ironworkers
EPCG’s operations are burdened by the purchase of the Ironworks. The state-owned company invested its 20 million euros in the purchase of the property of the private company Tosčelik železara and formed its daughter company with only ten thousand euros of founding capital. As the daughter company has a nebulous production program and calendar, that money will not even be enough to pay the April salary for 250 workers. Those people were hired at the beginning of April and within a month they cleaned the Ironworks yard, and the parent company had already lent them several million euros.
