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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Memorandum on solar energy project in Serbia signed

Belgrade, 14 December 2009

Serbian Minister of Energy and Mining Petar Skundric and Spanish Ambassador to Serbia Ignacio de Palacio España signed today a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry and the Spanish International Development Agency, worth approximately €220,000.

Ignacio de Palacio España, left, and Petar Skundric

Skundric told a press conference that this Memorandum envisages realisation of the "Development of capacities for the use and promotion of solar energy in Serbia" project, and that the funds will be used for analysis of solar technologies, elaboration of a regulative and normative framework and the realisation of a pilot project in that field.

The Minister said that the signing of the Memorandum additionally contributes to the development of friendly relations between Serbia and Spain, which helps Serbia both politically and financially in the EU integration process. Skundric explained that the potential of solar energy in Serbia stands at approximately 14% of the totally available energy sources and that Serbia's greatest potential is in biomass, around 63%. According to him, if Serbia used solar energy for hot water alone, emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere would be reduced by approximately 2 million tons per year.

Skundric said that electricity prices will not go up as of January 1, but during the first quarter of 2010, and the increase will not be bigger than 10%.

He recalled that electricity prices in Serbia have not gone up for more than a year and that they are the lowest in Europe at the moment.

España said that Spain advocates Serbia's EU accession and it is ready to help it undergo the necessary political, economic and social transformation. He recalled that Spain and Serbia had already cooperated in the field of renewable energy sources, first of all in wind powered energy, and said that Spanish businessmen will invest considerable funds in that sector in Serbia. España said that Spain is the world's leading producer of photovoltaic solar energy, and third in the production of energy from wind. He added that Spain is willing to share those experiences with Serbia.