Renewable Energy Resources and Waste Management - New Investment Opportunities

Promotion of green economy, sustainable growth and cost-effective use of resources are the only answer to the current crisis, said Minister of Environment, Mining and Spatial Planning, Mr Oliver Dulić in Vienna at the investment forum "Serbia", organized by the chambers of commerce of Austria and Serbia.

 "As far as the environmental protection is concerned, the investors will have the opportunity to improve the lives of citizens and also to make a considerable profit. Several thousand jobs could be created and millions of euros can be invested in sectors such as renewable energy and waste management. In addition to these sectors, Serbia is about to face one more important challenge and that is the construction of wastewater treatment plants, which requires considerable investments," said Minister Dulić.

According to the Minister, Serbia lacks systems for management of municipal and hazardous waste, wastewater treatment plants and technical procedures to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. Minister Dulić pointed out that the waste management industry represents a major area for investments, since only 60 % of households in Serbia are covered by the organized waste disposal system.

 "The aim is to  increase connectivity of such infrastructure, that is, to increase the percentage of households connected to the sewage system to 65 %, to resolve the issue of wastewater treatment and discharge, improve the quality of drinking water by investing in drinking water purification systems, and expand water supply to rural parts of Serbia by 2019," said Minister Dulić.

He explained that the Government intends to build thousands of kilometers of sewerage network, 700 kilometers of precipitation sewage and 16 to 17 plants for wastewater treatment by 2014, which in total require investments worth €625 million.

 "Waste management system is insufficiently developed, most of the municipal waste ends up on the landfill. We need to build modern landfills in accordance with the European standards. We have planned to build 26 regional landfills. However, the construction of 20 landfills has not even started," concluded Minister Dulić.

Investment Forum was organized with the objective to increase the interest of Austrian businessmen in investing in Serbia, with special emphasis on investments in renewable energy, environmental protection, infrastructure, establishing new contacts between Serbian and Austrian companies and improving the overall economic cooperation between the two countries. The forum was attended by representatives of companies, ministries, institutions and chambers of commerce of Serbia and Austria.