BELGRADE, March 9, 2016 - On 7-8 March the screening visit was held within the FUELPAGE project designed with the aim of strengthening fuel quality monitoring practices in Serbia, through the exchange of experience and know-how with peer institutions in the Czech Republic.
Familiarizing beneficiary institutions in Serbia with Czech and EU experiences in fuel quality monitoring system implementation shall favorably contribute to initial assessments and adaptations of the fuel quality monitoring framework in the country and ultimately the effective implementation of relevant EU standards and legislation. Namely, implementation of the national mineral fuels quality monitoring activities in Serbia begun as of 1 December 2015, thus the screening visit and project activities are well-timed, as the beneficiary institutions in Serbia are simultaneously gaining first experiences and encountering practical queries for effective monitoring activities.
Representatives of project know-how providers, the Faculty of Chemistry and Technology, Prague and Czech Association of Petroleum Industry and Trade, began the screening visit with the meeting at the Serbian Ministry of Mining and Energy, as the responsible authority for the adoption of legislation in the field of fuel quality monitoring, as well as legislation related to the quality of petroleum products.
As the supervision of implementation of fuel quality monitoring is carried out by the ministry in charge of energy, as well as the ministry in charge of trade, the visit continued with a meeting with the Market Inspection of the Serbian Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, where the Czech fuel quality monitoring system was presented to the project Working Group and the market inspectors with specialization in inspection of quality of petroleum products. The visit ended with meetings with SGS Serbia, the accredited company selected for rendering fuel marking and monitoring services in cooperation with state authorities and companies.
The topics of highest interest raised during the screening meetings were of great value for understanding the needs of Serbian partners and will be used as basis for preparing the following project activity, i.e. the first project capacity-building training to be held in Serbia in May, and further adapting the content of project activities towards the needs of Serbian beneficiary institutions. The project deliverables are tailored towards strengthening the efficiency of the fuel quality monitoring system in Serbia, cutting down illegal sales of petroleum products and contributing to fight against grey economy.
The project is jointly implemented by the Faculty of Chemistry and Technology, Prague (as main know-how provider) in cooperation with the Czech Association ofPetroleum Industry and Trade , and the beneficiary organizations in Serbia -the Market Inspection of the Ministry ofTrade, Tourism and Telecommunications of Serbia (as main beneficiary), the Ministry of Mining and Energy of Serbia ,the National Petroleum Committee of Serbia – World Petroleum Council and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Belgrade .
Members of the Project Working Group on behalf of the National Petroleum Committee of Serbia will be Tomislav Mićović, General Secretary of the Association of Oil Companies of Serbia and Senka Walid, Head of Department for Market Analysis and Pricing at NIS j.s.c. Novi Sad. Representatives of NNKS will, in cooperation with representatives of state authorities and other project partners, participate in preparation of recommendations and measures for improvement of the fuel quality monitoring framework in Serbia.
The FUELPAGE project is co-financed by the Central European Initiative in the framework of the CEI Know-How Exchange Programme (KEP Italy), sponsored by the CEI Fund at the EBRD , and the National Petroleum Committee of Serbia.