CEVES Chief Economist Kori Udovički stated that the biggest problem in the reform process of Elektroprivreda Srbije has always been political interference.
„That is a far bigger problem than ordinary corruption. If you mismanage the system as we have just seen. The cost of this overstaffing, the cost of not maintaining something properly, is ultimately greater than someone profiting somewhere,“ Udovički said on Insajder television.
Udovički said that because of this, it is necessary to ask where politics is leading EPS, because, as she stated, there is a threat of coal shortage.
„We will be without coal in 20-30 years. In the energy sector, that period is tomorrow, and we are still talking about it as if it is something that is yet to come,“ she added.
Regarding the Serbian government's move to hire a company from Norway to propose a reform model, Udovički says that the company can be an advisor, but that the state ultimately implements the reforms.
„When the coal production in Kolubara needed to be stabilized, a director for the Kolubara Mining Basin was found who knows how to organize production. The problem is that he is politically from some other story. And what do we do now? Are we going to let the Norwegians remove politics from EPS?“ Udovički asked.
The entire interview can be viewed at the following link.
