30/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - EBRD grants loan of €200 million to Serbian electricity industry. On Friday 30 October, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced that it is giving financing support to a reform programme for electricity in Serbia through a €200 million loan for Serbian electricity operator Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS). The loan is guaranteed by the Serbian state and will aid EPS to restructure its financial balance sheet and recover from the impact of severe flooding in the Balkans in 2014. It will also help the company achieve long-term development goals (commercialisation, boosting the company's standards of governance and enhancing energy efficiency). EBRD is also planning to help with liberalisation of the Serbian energy market, which is an important precondition for the country to join the EU and to encourage the regional integration of energy markets in the Western Balkans. (EH)