Wednesday, 12. February 2014.
HIP-Petrohemija’s urgent search for future gas supply
After interruption of natural gas supply to the Synthetic Rubber Plant in Elemir, and reduction of gas supply to HIP-Petrohemija’s plants in Pancevo, Friday 7 February 2014, the Ministry of Energy, Development and Environmental Protection has sent its demand to both managements of JP Srbijagas and HIP-Petrohemija to urgently start negotiations in order to find solution for continuation of natural gas deliveries.
Since HIP-Petrohemija is one of the biggest debtors for gas deliveries and since it is in a very difficult financial situation its management’s opinion is that the issue should be solved by joint efforts of both companies as well as of the competent ministries and Serbian Government. HIP-Petrohemija cannot operate without natural gas, and in the case of gas supply interruption, the production - which broke its peak record in 2013 - will have to be interrupted as well.
Pursuant to the Agreement on Strategic Cooperation from 2011, gas supply by Srbijagas should have been continued until the investment cycle completion in HIP-Petrohemija, what was planned to be the beginning of 2014, however these investment projects started only in the last quarter of 2013. Also, since July 2013, HIP-Petrohemija has produced several proposals in the form of the company’s restructuring plans, however none of them has been yet realized.
On Friday, February 7, HIP-Petrohemija sent its request for urgent meeting with JP Srbijagas’s management in order to come to terms on continual natural gas deliveries to HIP-Petrohemija in future.