Djedovic: Serbia to make substantial investments in energy infrastructure

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic met with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Vice President Konstantin Limitovskiy on Friday and noted that 15 bln euros must be invested in the Serbian energy sector over the next 10 years.

In the coming years, Serbia will invest substantial funds in energy infrastructure to develop more power generation capacities from renewable energy sources, secure sufficient quantities of energy and fuels for citizens and businesses and reduce adverse environmental impacts, she said.

"We have been working intensively on reviewing the situation in the energy sector, defining where our biggest needs lie to be able to be independent and stable in the years to come and determining priority investments for production, transmission and distribution of electricity, continued gasification, new gas interconnections, oil storage facilities and oil pipelines," Djedovic said.

She noted the Serbian government's commitment to establish strategic cooperation in the field of renewable energy sources and added that priority projects that could be carried out in cooperation with AIIB, among other partners, would be defined soon.

Limitovskiy said there was ample space for cooperation between AIIB and Serbia, with special emphasis on energy projects, which he noted were among the bank's main priorities in the current global circumstances.

In view of Serbia's energy transition process, he noted the great potential of funding for solar and wind power plants, gas infrastructure and advancement of the transmission and distribution networks.