July 13, 2009
Tanjug reported the announcement that some EUR 500 mln will be invested over three years to modernise the Serbian Oil Industry (NIS).
Of this sum, EUR 60 mln will be set aside for an environmental programme at NIS, which is majority owned by Russia's Gazprom.
Protection of the environment is one of the chief priorities and an inseparable part of the strategy for effectively running the company, said NIS Deputy General Director Yuri Masiyanski.
He added that the three key aims within the ecological sector are a drastic decrease in harmful consequences of production, production of ecologically clean fuel and the revitalisation of natural resources.
For the first time in the company's history, a directorate for ecology has been founded which will implement over the coming months an ecological test on the entire company. Based on these results, NIS will create a plan for developing environmental standards of production, Masiyanski explained.
NIS General Director's Advisor for Special Issues Vladimir Anisimov said that, within modernisation of the entire refinery complex, 29 structures will be worked on, ten of which will directly decrease environmental impact.
Anisimov added that, within the modernisation plan, there will be significant restoration work performed at the Novi Sad refinery, especially reconstruction of facilities destroyed in the NATO bombing of 1999, along with the gathering of dangerous materials from the ground that have been there for years. It will also carry out wastewater purification efforts.
It was also announced that NIS will focus on improving the quality of all types of fuel, and that once the company has been modernised, it will begin producing 'Euro 5' petrol.
