Subject: Serbia shivering under severe power cuts
Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2000 10:50:05 PST
From: C-afp@... (AFP / Alexandra Niksic)
Organization: Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet)
Newsgroups: clari.world.europe.balkans,clari.world.europe,biz.clarinet.sample
Followup-To: biz.clarinet.sample


BELGRADE, Dec 26 (AFP) - Most of Serbia was plunged into
darkness and cold on Tuesday as the state power company introduced
rotating eight-hour electricity cuts to cope with severe supply
difficulties, with officials warning of "natural catastrophe."
In addition to the electricity cuts, many heating plants slashed
production due to inadequate gas deliveries from Russia, which meets
half the country's needs.
The temperature in Serbia was around six degrees Celsius (43
Fahrenheit) Tuesday, but forecasters are predicting that in the
coming days temperatures will slide to minus 10 degrees Celsius (14
degrees Fahrenheit).
The Serbian government ordered the energy ministry to "take all
measures to allevite the problems," state agency Tanjug reported.
Srboljub Antic, republic's Energy Minister, told radio B92 that,
due to heavy shortages, Serbia "is in the state of natural
catastrophe."
Serbia's utility company EPS said low water levels in the main
rivers, the Danube and Sava, had forced its hydro-electric power
plants to cut output.
The EPS said consumers in the republic had been divided into
four categories, with three of them simultaneously having no
electricity for at least eight hours at a time.
The cuts left most households with only six hours of electricity
per day, although the EPS said it expected the situation to return
to normal on Wednesday.
Household consumption is particularly high as many Serbian
houses have electric heating systems.
Increased outages have already sparked discontent in the
southern city of Nis, where residents in one suburb again blocked a
street with burning tyres Tuesday, in a protest for being cut off
power for about 18 hours.
They launched their protest on Monday, burning tyres and garbage
bins and smashing a power company window.
In the western town of Cacak, the local council declared a state
of emergency due to the power cuts, which were in some cases lasting
for 24 hours, the Beta news agency reported.
The council decided to form a "crisis committee" to oversee the
situation, instructing all companies, schools and kindergartens to
stop working.
Only the town's hospital, water plant, bakery and dairy would be
supplied with electricity, the agency said.
In Mataruska Spa in western Serbia, people went without
electricity and water for more than 15 hours Tuesday, while most of
the shops and restaurants were closed in early afternoon, Beta
said.
In Sabac, a local police station, the city hall and a media
company -- all considered priorities for provision -- were cut off
Tuesday, while the town center and several suburbs have been without
electricity for more than 16 hours, the agency said.
"Although the cuts are drastic, they make sense and are the only
way to stabilise the system," EPS official Dragan Batalo told the
B92 radio station, calling for "understanding and patience."
In Belgrade, some of the suburbs were cut off for more than 10
hours, while the main town's cemetery also suffered a power
restriction.
Many traffic lights were turned off, causing jams in busy
Belgrade streets, while the highway lights were cut off for several
hours.
However, the center of the town was widely decorated with
Christmas and New Year lights, provoking anger among some citizens.
The latest power cuts came after warnings from outside the
country calling on the EPS to stop skimming electricity from the
grids of Serbia's neighbors and using excessive amounts of water
from the Danube for hydro-electric power plants.
The EPS says its plants, poorly managed in the past and
partially damaged in NATO's 1999 bombing campaign, cannot meet the
nation's demands for energy.
Tackling the chronic power shortage is a crucial challenge for
democratic reformists, who this weekend followed up reformist
President Vojislav Kostunica's September federal victory with a
landslide success in Serbia's parliamentary polls.
They have pledged to rebuild the impoverished country after a
decade of mismanagement by the autocratic regime of ousted president
Slobodan Milosevic.
The European Union has already donated 80 million euros (72
million dollars) to help meet Serbia's energy needs.
The crisis has also hit Montenegro, Serbia's junior partner in
the Yugoslav Federation, where three-hour electricity cuts were
introduced on Monday.
Montenegro is suffering from en energy shortfall of four million
kilowatt-hours per day, as power imports from neighbouring countries
have been halted due to problems in Albania, Greece, Macedonia and
Serbia.