BELGRADE, Feb 12, 2016 - February 2016 marks the official kick-off of the project “Capacity Building for Improved Mineral Fuels Monitoring System - Transfer of Best Practices against Grey Economy - FUELPAGE” aiming at transfer of experience from the EU and Czech Republic in the field of mineral fuels quality monitoring.
The project has been jointly designed by the Faculty of Chemistry and Technology, Prague in cooperation with the Czech Association of Petroleum Industry and Trade on the Czech side, and the partner organizations in Serbia - the Market Inspection of the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of the Republic of Serbia, Ministry of Mining and Energy of Serbia of the Republic of Serbia, the National Petroleum Committee of Serbia and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Belgrade.
In the coming months, the project will prepare screening and analysis of the fuel quality monitoring framework in Serbia and presentation of best Czech and EU practices with tailor-made knowledge transfer as support to the efforts of national authorities and other stakeholders in implementation of relevant EU legislation. The project is to result in recommendations & measures for system improvements. The project activities shall also entail capacity building through trainings and a peer review visit to the competent institutions of the Czech Republic.
An expert Working Group has been set up, comprising of professionals delegated by all partners and managed by a representative of the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of the Republic of Serbia, as the main project beneficiary. Representatives of the National Petroleum Committee of Serbia in the Working Group shall be Tomislav Mićović, Secretary General of the Association of Oil Companies of Serbia and Senka Walid, Head of Market Analyses and Pricing Department of NIS j.s.c. Novi Sad.
The project kick-off is expected to be well-timed, as first experiences in the implementation of the recently adopted national framework of fuel quality monitoring in Serbia have been gained. Through the first stage of monitoring implementation, in place since 1 December 2015, system shortcomings and deficiencies can be detected at an early stage. Experience exchange, capacity building, as well as review of best practices from the EU and Czech Republic will positively contribute to the first thorough system assessments and considerations for further adaptations of the Serbian national fuel quality monitoring legislation and its practical regulation.
The project is co-financed by the Central European Initiative in the framework of its Know-How Exchange Programme - KEP Italy (sponsored by the CEI Fund at the EBRD, entirely financed by Italy) and by the National Petroleum Committee of Serbia. The project will be implemented by the end of 2016.