At the fifth sitting, held on 21 and 22 October, the Industry Committee members discussed the information on the increase in the price of natural gas.

The sitting was chaired by the Committee Chairman, Milorad Buha.

At the beginning of the sitting, on 21 October, the Committee members and deputies present insisted that the authorised minister, Dr Petar Skundric attend the Committee sitting in order to answer questions concerning the price of natural gas.

In the continuation, on 22 October, the Committee completed the discussion on the information on the increase in the price of natural gas, and the sitting was attended by the Minister of Energy and Mining, Dr Petar Skundric and associates.

In his address to the Committee Minister Skundric pointed out that he is aware of all the deputies’ requests and objections and that they have been seriously discussed, adding that a request will be forwarded to the Government, to discuss all the questions in their entirety, from the formation of the gas price to the other questions which were the topic of discussion the previous days. He added that the annex to the contract on the purchase of natural gas had been concluded in accordance to the erstwhile mode of operation i.e. that the annex to the contract deals with the reservation of the necessary amount of natural gas. The Minister repeated that he agrees that the Government of the Republic of Serbia should give its opinion before the decisions of PC Serbiagas concerning the aforementioned annex.

In the discussion, the Committee members requested from the Minister of Energy and Mining to determine full responsibility for the increase in the price of gas for households, to determine whether there are any unnecessary elements in the price, to examine the annex to the contract on the purchase of natural gas, that the Government of the Republic of Serbia not put the decision on the price increase into force until May of next year, to inform the citizens who is responsible for the current situation, to reexamine the role of intermediary in the purchase of gas, to review the work and functioning of PC Serbiagas, as well as the margins of natural gas distributors in Serbia.

Following the discussion, the Committee Chairman Milorad Buha formulated five conclusions and submitted them to the Committee for adoption. By a majority of votes, the Committee concluded: 1. that the Government review the decision on the increase in the gas price, 2. that the Government reexamine the role of intermediary in the process of gas import, their margin and the privatisation of 25% of Jugorosgas company, the role and position of PC Serbiagas and the local gas distributors, their margin, employee salaries in these companies and the licenses for gas distribution, as well as to implement all legal measures and penalise the persons responsible for the offenses committed, 3. to put a time limit on the introduction of the new tariff system, 4. that he Ministry of Energy and Mining submit to the Industry Committee all relevant data on the requests for price increase of other energy-generating products before forwarding them to the Government for discussion and 5. to inform the Committee within 30 days on all activities implemented on this issue.

The Committee also voted on the proposals of decisions of Committee members Dejan Nikolic, Vladan Batic and Nenad Popovic, which did not receive a majority of votes.