HEP (Hrvatska elektroprivreda) – Croatia’s leading energy company – has become the 25th member of Central Europe Energy Partners (CEEP). Less than two years after Croatia joined the European Union, the country’s oldest power company strengthens the position of the major body representing the interests of Central Europe’s energy and energy-intensive industries.
CEEP’s activity is particularly important for countries which joined the EU after 2004. In their energy mix, they are to a large extent dependent on fossil fuels or imports from outside the EU. CEEP actively seeks to reduce the disparities in economic conditions and development between the EU countries. It also advocates for the integration of energy systems in Europe through the North–South Corridor, combining Central Europe’s key parts of the energy and gas infrastructure. This is strategically important both for Croatia, whose dependency on energy import is 52.3%, as well as for the stability of the whole EU’s energy market having in mind, among others, Krk LNG Terminal.
“At CEEP, we strongly believe that access to low energy prices is one of key drivers of economic growth. We make energy producers and consumers across the continent speak with one voice. With HEP onboard, this voice will be stronger, given the company’s position and Croatia’s role as one of the region’s energy bedrocks. Together with HEP, we share the understanding of the role of the energy sector in stimulating the economic growth in Europe. I am glad we will be working together on providing the EU with stable legal environment and the security of energy supplies,” said Paweł Olechnowicz, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Central Europe Energy Partners.
HEP has been engaged in electricity production, transmission and distribution for more than one century, and with heat supply and gas distribution for the past few decades. The company’s diversified portfolio of products, services and projects goes in line with the broad representation of CEEP’s members. With both energy producers and consumers onboard, CEEP’s proposals serve as balanced positions compromising the interests of more than one hundred million Europeans. As a result, CEEP has become an indispensable partner for the European administration in the process of creating new regulations affecting the energy sector.
“As the new energy partner on the EU internal market, I am pleased that CEEP recognized HEP as its strategic partner in connecting different parts of the EU in the framework of the Energy Community and the Energy Union. HEP, on the other hand, has recognized the opportunity in profiling its interests in electricity production, transmission and distribution, heat supply and gas distribution, which in the EU framework is far more effective through partnership with other interested parties who have similar or the same interests. It is clear that the essence of decision making at the EU level depends on well-targeted articulation of the own interests,” said Perica Jukić, Chairman of the Board, HEP d.d.
CEEP’s members represent the widely-understood energy and energy-intensive sector companies (coal, gas, oil, electricity generation and transmission, renewables, steel and chemical industries) as well as universities and research institutions. Apart from Croatia, the organisation covers the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and Ukraine. Its member companies have over EUR 50 billion annual income and over 300,000 employees. CEEP’s non-profit status underlines the organisation’s independence and transparency as one of the most important stakeholders within the EU’s energy and energy security policy areas.
Contact for Media:
Jan Jujeczka, Media Spokesperson
0048 508 221 069 | jan.jujeczka@ceep.be