Serbia’s sole oil firm NIS, majority-owned by Russia’s Gazprom Neft, is a frequent participant – sometimes the only corporate participant – in government working groups drafting energy legislation directly affecting the work of the company, according to a BIRN investigation.
The findings of the investigation raise concerns about conflicts of interest in the passage of legislation in Serbia due to the absence of legislation governing how a company can lobby public institutions to protect its interests.
Transparency experts say it is not unusual for corporations to be represented in ministry working groups in Serbia in cases where there are a limited number of experts in a particular field.
The problem, they say, lies in the fact that sometimes only one company in a particular industry is represented, and there are few rules governing its participation that would encourage transparency as to the input it had in decisions taken by state institutions.
“A working group should not be a body in which representatives of various stakeholders agree on how to satisfy their own interests, though that is often the case,” said Nemanja Nenadic, program director at the Serbian chapter of the Transparency International watchdog.
“The secret deals that satisfy both sides remain hidden,” he said.
Privileged access
Documents obtained by BIRN show that representatives of NIS were involved in developing a program to implement Serbia’s Strategy on Energy Development up to 2025 and participated in working groups within the Ministry of Energy tasked with writing ‘rulebooks’ on various aspects of geological exploration. Each directly regulates NIS operations in Serbia.
NIS, which produces and processes oil and gas and sells a wide range of oil derivatives, also participated in the drafting of rules on the classification of resources and reserves of liquid and gaseous raw materials in 2016. The documents obtained by BIRN show NIS was the only company represented.
Contacted by BIRN, the press office of NIS confirmed that company representatives participated in Ministry of Energy working groups, “at the invitation of the ministry or the competent body”.
NIS also “takes part in public discussions on draft laws and bylaws,” it added in a statement to BIRN. “In that sense, the company analyses and prepares comments and suggestions.”
For more read the full of article at The Balkaninsight
