Energy crisis at the door of Europe

The gas crisis in Europe was caused by high consumption, but empty European gas storage facilities also contributed, as well as a reduction in the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine. In China, the energy situation has been alarming in the last two weeks, as the lack and increase in the price of coal, the raw material from which the country receives 56 percent of electricity, has forced the Chinese authorities to introduce electricity restrictions in many provinces.

In Europe, the price of electricity has already risen by 50% and for households and countries individually looking for solutions, and should be considered jointly on October 21.

Serbia is , for now, calm because the gas is regularly delivered by “Balkan Stream”, and the storage “Banski dvor” is full and the prices should not change until the end of the year, and the next one is being negotiated.

When it comes to electricity, the price for households will not change until the end of the year and will be the cheapest in this part of Europe. This does not apply to the economy, because it buys kilowatts on the free market, and they have risen in price by 60 percent this year.

This is an alarm for the economy as well as the state because The cement plants have already announced that the jump will affect their prices, and thus indirectly on the entire branch of industry and beyond.

The President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Marko Čadež, states for RTS that This increase in the price of electricity will be reflected in the prices.

“Every increase in the price of electricity will be reflected,” Chadez estimates.

He states that companies are in big trouble and that he talks to their representatives and owners every day to find a solution.

“I have about fifty conversations a day on this topic with general managers, company owners who are really in big trouble now – how to continue doing business, how to maintain business, how to provide raw materials after all, I’m not just talking about electricity , I am also talking about other raw materials and semi-finished products because the price of everything increases when energy prices rise “, explains Čadež.

He points out that an increase in energy prices could have been expected, but not this kind of hit to that extent.

“That what happened will happen to gas, that what happened will happen to taxes. There are a lot of things, different factors that coincided and created this storm that is now threatening to destroy the economy “, states Čadež.

He points out that it is very important to understand that EPS in some extraordinary moments like these is the one that protects the economic system.

Putniković: There will be no shortage of gas and electricity in Serbia

Portal editor Energy of the Balkans Jelica Putniković stated that Serbia should not be afraid, that it has enough electricity and gas.

“I believe that it will not be like in China, that there will be no factory shutdowns, that there will be no electricity, that we will not have a problem with heating, but it is obvious that we must sit at the highest level and make a strategy , because what seems to be that this is only the first problem in that energy transition where renewable energy sources still cannot meet all needs “, explains Putniković.

What Regarding gas, he states that Serbia has a current arrangement with “Gazprom” which he believes will be extended.

“Although this one contract with” Gazprom “expires, a new pillar I believe that by then a new arrangement will be negotiated because Serbia has been constantly procuring gas through these long-term arrangements, which will be the price -We have heard from President Vučić that he will also join the negotiations “, explains the guest of Oka ekonomija .

According to her, the crisis with energy in the world came about because after last year’s waves of the pandemic, the economy had to work – tourism and travel started, which all together caused increased energy consumption.

However, as he says, the necessary amount of energy was obviously not well estimated in those plans, so now in China we have a critical situation with the shortage of electricity, and it is exacerbated by the fact that it was weak. and production from renewable sources.

Explains that everyone in Europe will manage individually as much as they listen to the European Commission.

“I think that each country will bring its own strategy on how to overcome this crisis, because this is certainly not the first crisis,” adds Putniković.

He points out that energy transition necessary to happen, but to make good plan (how it will unfold.)

Stojčevski: There is no end in sight to rising prices

Dejan Stojčevski, technical director of SEEPEX, stated that this crisis was caused by several factors, that the price of gas increased more than ten times compared to November last year, and pointed out that there is no end in sight to the rise in prices.

“The peak of price growth is expected in November, and it is expected that stabilization will occur somewhere in the second quarter of next year. Of course, all this is provided that the price of gas in that period goes down, which happened in previous years because it goes from winter to spring, we have a better hydrological situation and consumption simply falls, and in that situation the price of electricity is usually at the lowest level. , and gas prices “, explains the guest Oka .

Says that he was not surprised by the jump in electricity prices because, as he says, it could not be expected to be the same price as during the pandemic.

“What is surprising is the jump in gas prices , no one expected him to jump this big. The consequence of this is not Europe but Asia, where the price of gas has jumped drastically. For us, the point is the gas power plant, and the gas power plant dictates the price in Europe, and the price in Europe is directly transferred to our region, and even increased by some ten to twenty euros. So, the wholesale price in Europe is cheaper than here in the region. And as long as the price of gas rises, so does the price of electricity “, explains Stojčevski .

He explains that it is always advised to buy energy in the period March-April because then it is the cheapest, then contracts are concluded.

Gajić: Gas reserves in the EU at the lowest level in the last decade

Dušan Gajić, RTS correspondent from Brussels states that the situation in Brussels is serious, that the prices of both electricity and gas have jumped , that it is slowly becoming a major topic in Europe and that it was also discussed at the Summit of European Leaders, even though the Western Balkans was supposed to be the main topic.

“The price of natural gas is multiplied this year. This threatens to jeopardize economic growth projections, to jeopardize the goals in the fight against climate change, the ambitious goals that Europe has set for itself first by 2030 and then by 2050, to endanger the very short-term most vulnerable groups in the whole of Europe. European Union data relating to the period before this, now migrant crisis, and before the pandemic say that in 2019, for example, a total of about seven percent of Europeans had trouble heating their homes during the winter, in some countries the percentage was much higher – higher and 20 percent and now it is feared that it could double “, explains Gajić.

He adds that in Belgium they calculated that an additional supplement to the annual electricity bill , electricity and gas could be 720 euros per year, and as he says, it is similar in other countries.

He adds that it also causes fear of the fact that in this the moment of gas reserves in the European Union at the lowest level in the last ten years.

“Although today the Commission says that there are still sufficient quantities for this winter,” explains Gajić.

He adds that the European Commission should come out next week with a proposal for certain measures, more guidance on what Member States can now do in response to the current situation in the short term, without compromising the rules of the common European market. Some long-term view, he says, is primarily on the question of how to make the transition to renewable energy.