By Vesna Peric Zimonjic
BELGRADE, Sep 21 2004 (IPS)

Energy use in Serbia is unsustainable and is retarding growth and human development, says a new UNDP report.

"Serbia is a country fighting for its economic development, but the use of energy resources and the lack of any strategy in the field practically prevents it from being efficient in such a goal," deputy regional representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Rastislav Vrbenski told IPS. "Our aim is to help it shift to a development oriented strategy."

The study titled ‘Stuck in the Past’ was conducted by 60 foreign and local experts, and involved a survey of about 3,500 people over a year.

"We came to the dramatic conclusion that neither the people nor the politicians in this country are aware how important energy is," project team leader Srecko Mihajlovic told IPS. "No one seems to be aware that energy is the basis for the quality of life, not only now but for generations to come."

Mihajovic says prevailing views have their origin in the myth that Serbia’s hydro and thermal plants produce more than enough energy.

Serbia also has its own coalmines. Oil is regarded as something that comes naturally from abroad. Serbia also imports most of its gas, which is used in the heating plants at four of its biggest cities (Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis and Kragujevac).

The average energy consumption per square metre of living space is about 2.5 times higher than in northern Europe, but in more than one in four households the amount of heated space per person is below minimum health standards, the study showed.

"That is why the study deserved its name as it showed what it did," Mihajlovic said.

The heating season in Serbia lasts six months, from mid-October to mid-April. Mortality is more than 30 percent higher in winter, the study shows.

More than half the people use wood and coal as a major source of energy for heating and cooking, creating high levels of indoor air pollution and leading to chronic illnesses. Only 38 percent of households heated all the living space in winter, the study says.

"Our aim was to make the authorities as well as the population aware where the country stands now," UNDP energy specialist Aleksandar Kovacevic told IPS. "Eradication of poverty does not mean only higher employment, it means careful production and consumption of energy."

Implementing energy efficiency measures could "contribute to a boost in the gross domestic product (GDP) rate to between five and seven percent a year, a leap that no other policy change could achieve," Kovacevic said. Serbia is aiming for 6 percent GDP growth over the next few years.

Economic recovery has been slow, even though a pro-reform government took over four years ago. Production is still just 30 percent of 1989 levels.

Kovacevic says that despite the disintegration of former Yugoslavia the UNDP sees the Western Balkans (Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia) as a single energy market.

"These are the countries with mostly similar problems, and many remain underdeveloped due to the improper circumstances of the 1990s," he added. No such energy study has been carried out in these countries yet.

But preliminary surveys show that the situation in Bosnia and Macedonia is similar to Serbia. Croatia has taken a step further and has developed an energy strategy expected to be in place by the time it is ready to join the European Union (EU) in 2007. Bulgaria has set aside a special budget to promote energy efficiency.

In Serbia a public debate over switching to nuclear energy has overshadowed all others in the field. A strong anti-nuclear lobby opposed the building of the first nuclear power plant decades ago. It was finally built on the border of present Slovenia and Croatia.

"In the past 20 years, the world has become aware of the problem of efficient energy production and rational consumption," Kovacevic said. "We’re not advising what resources should be used, we simply try to show how to improve the country’s development within the existing circumstances. And no one seems to care much about that."

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