2 December 2013
That day was an important jubilee for the Subotica DH PUC: fifty years of existence and successful work. Representatives of the local self-government, the Delegation of the EU to the Republic of Serbia, the Embassy of Germany in Belgrade, the Ministry for Energy, Development and Environment Protection, the KfW Development Bank and other bodies and institutions from the country, the province and Subotica attended the academy held in the Ceremonial Hall of the Town Hall.
Jenő Maglai, the Mayor of Subotica felicitated the management and the employees of the company on that important anniversary and expressed his hope, that the public company would further justify the trust placed in it by the local self-government and the citizens of Subotica. He said, that this public company has walked a long road and has developed into an exemplary model on how a public company should operate in this field.
“Thermal energy generation and supply is a quality that should always be at disposal in Subotica. It is somehow part of the local citizens' quality of life. On the other hand it ranks Subotica among modern cities”, said Jenő Maglai and added: “27 per cent of the households are supplied by thermal energy on the territory of the city of Subotica.”
Emphasizing that there are major challenges to be faced by the Subotica DH PUC in the forthcoming period, Maglai stated that this public company will enjoy the local self-government's support in its further work and development plans.
“Modern age will require from the employees and the management to cope with the challenges in following-up contemporary technologies and providing quality services at prices affordable for our citizens. The city will always support the Subotica DH PUC because it is one of public companies having strategic importance for the local self-government. Therefore, as far as I am concerned, you can always rely on the local self-government, which will, in line with its abilities and capacities, provide full support to your work, management and quality fulfilment of the PUC's obligations towards the citizens of Subotica”, said Jenő Maglai.
The manager of the company, Pero Rikic, said that that day was very important for the PUC - 50 years of existence and work, and that both the management and the employees are very proud of that fact.
“Our slogan is: ”We've been heating and working for 50 years” and we hope we could continue in that spirit. I would like to thank all those who participated in the development of the company and would felicitate all employees on this jubilee”, said Mr. Rikic.
He recalled that the company was founded in 1963, after the power plant stopped operating and five decades upon the company's founding it plans to generate electrical power again by using biomass as a fuel in a CHP plant.
Mr. Rikic pointed out that period of the last 10 years was a comprehensive retrofitting of the district heating system. He added, that, at present, the Subotica DH PUC supplies over 10.000 residential units and about 400 commercial consumers in Subotica.
In view of future plans, he said that the company's priority task is to accomplish the rehabilitation and retrofitting of the district heating system, to extend the circle of consumers by 20% in the next 5 years, to generate thermal and electrical energy in smaller capacity CHP units and to gradually introduce renewable energy sources in the company's production system.
Certificates of appreciation were presented to the Delegation of the EU to Serbia and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany for their support of the company's development plans and to István Bogdán, MA, and Grgo Horvacki, engineer, who formerly managed the company for many years.
Thermal energy supply via hot water pipelines have started on 2 December 1963. That date is considered as the beginning of district heating in Subotica.