In her introductory speech, the Chairperson of SPEPF and of the Committee on Finance, State Budget and Control of Public Spending Prof. Dr Aleksandra Tomic pointed out that the large fluctuations in supply and demand prices on the global energy market are what is most important for Serbia, as well as for the whole world at the moment, as is the sudden and unexpected jump in the price of gas and electricity, which occurred in August 2021 and led to major changes in all economic spheres.

"Serbia has successfully tackled this problem thanks to the President’s taking part participated in and successfully completing negotiations with the Russian Federation, so that today we have practically the same price of energy in Serbia", said Tomic.

She said that the goal of the meeting is to examine possible solutions to the issue of energy prices and storage of commodity reserves, stressing that the cost of the adjustment is something to be mindful of, in terms of climate change, as well as obligations arising from bilateral and multilateral agreements, primarily with the European Union, Energy Community, Russian Federation and the Eurasian Union.

Svetlana Bacanin, coordinator for Serbia on the project Open Regional Fund for Southeast Europe - Energy, Transport and Climate Protection, explained how the Fund opened for Southeast Europe implements activities in the field of energy, climate protection and transport.

"We continue to work with parliaments in the region and with the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence, with a focus on strengthening the capacities of informal green parliamentary groups in Southeast Europe on topics concerning energy and transport goals in line with European Union policy", Bacanin said.

Maja Matija Ristic, Secretary at the Ministry of Mining and Energy, reminded the attending that the Republic of Serbia is a signatory to the 2015 Paris Agreement, which had set very ambitious goals regarding renewable energy policies, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions.

“Serbia is also a signatory of the Sofia Declaration for the Western Balkans, known as the Green Agenda, and these two documents are an important cornerstone and more than Serbia's mere duty to work on new energy policies, they represent our desire to be leaders in the region in terms of future energy policies as well", stressed Maja Matija Ristic.

Ljubinko Savic spoke on behalf of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, as did Mirjana Jovanovic from the Belgrade Open School, with Ana Tripovic, Director of the Public Debt Administration, and Dusan Carkic of the Ministry of European Integration, addressing the topic of planned investments and the Green Bond Standard.

The meeting of the Serbian Parliamentary Energy Policy Forum was held with the support of the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) within project Open Regional Fund for Southeast Europe - Energy, Transport and Climate Protection (GIZ ORF ETC).