YUGOSLAVIA: People Huddle for Warmth As Power Cuts Cripple Belgrade

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic Reprint | | Print |

Vesna Peric Zimonjic

BELGRADE, Jan 20 1995 (IPS) - The two million inhabitants of sanctions- affected Belgrade are now having to spend up to 12 hours a day without light or heating as draconian power cuts take effect.

Since mid-December the citizens of Serbia have been experiencing a true winter misery as a result of the sanctions-hit regime of Slobodan Milosevic having failed to invest in power stations around the country.

Government statistics show that a third of Serbia — three million out of its nine million people — are losing their electricity supply for up to half a day.

As a result working hours have been almost halved, streets left in darkness and rural towns and villages have the life sucked out of them.

Belgrade experienced perhaps its most frustrating day in modern history on Thursday when a central power line was switched off and a large hospital complex, the tram and trolley system and a key water distribution centre were all immobilised.

The power cut also brought traffic to a standstill, cut central heating systems and production of bread for several hours. Local Belgrade radio and television stations were also off the air.

An official explanation was offered by the national electricty producing enterprise ‘Elektroprivreda Srbije’ (EPS).

They said that consumption was exceeding the production of electricity and bringing the total electricity power grid to the verge of collapse. As a result, they said “necessary urgent measures had to be taken to save it”. EPS threatened to introduce even more Draconian measures if the demand rose higher.

The company also explained that the daily production of electricity could not exceed 110 million kilowatt hours, while the actual demand could currently rise up to more than 140 million kilowatt hours a day.

Unfortunately, at the same time Serbia is experiencing its third extremely cold winter in a row, with temperatures falling to minus 15 or even minus 25 celciuus in the mountain areas.

Added to which there is no possibility to buy oil or natural gas for its cities’ central heating systems, due to the United Nations sanctions that block imports.

“We are simply forced to rely on electricity for heating in the bitter winter cold,” said Ivan Petrovic, a Belgrade engineer. “When the power is switched off for several hours, the people wrap themselves in blankets and wait until it is on again,” he added.

The cities and towns of Serbia and their surrounding areas are neatly divided into sections, called ‘Groups’ that are rotated for experiencing power cuts. The schedules of power cuts are usually published daily by EPS and also announced on television or radio stations.

The EPS, which currently employs about 60,000 people, warned last summer that its system could no longer function like it did for the previous two winters.

EPS officials warned of the lack of imported spare parts, skipped overhauls, low level of rivers due to extremely dry summers and a lack of coal — that partially came from Bosnia before the civil wars in the Balkans. As a result the power stations have been unable to function to their full potential.

Prior warnings also fell on the deaf ears of the ruling Serbian socialists. For them, it was more important that the harsh winter did not bring the much feared social unrest.

Electricity charges have remained relatively low over the years, so normally every Serbian household could count on additional heating during the winter for a comparatively small amount of money.

This was in spite of the fact that there was no possibility of oil or gas imports because of international sanctions. Economists say that the price of electricity in Serbia is 10 times lower than in any European country — while the price of food, for example, is three or four times higher.

“The case of EPS shows how something that has been successfully built for decades can be ruined in only a couple of years,” the Belgrade independent weekly ‘Vreme’ commented.

The paper accused the regime of Serbian president Slobodan MIlosevic for incompetence. “It is only a part of the complete destruction of this society in every aspect of civilised life since the civil wars of the former Yugoslavia started,” it added.

Before the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, Serbia was able to supply over 37 billion kilowatt hours of power production a year. This was more than sufficient for the country’s needs.

According to 1989 statistics, the surpluses were regularly exported to Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro and Macedonia, as well to Italy, Austria, and Greece. The strict international trade sanctions imposed against Serbia in May 1992 stopped possible electricity exports.

Political analysts here warn that the patience of Serbian people is running out. For several days in the eastern town of Nis, people erected barricades and set fire to car tyres in a protest over power cuts. The scenes have also been repeated in the Belgrade suburb of Mirijevo and in several towns of northern province of Vojvodina.