South-East Europe’s power utilities have moved from being passive state monopolies to becoming the most systemically influential corporates in their national economies. They are at once suppliers of baseload stability, hard-currency earners through cross-border electricity trade, primary vehicles for renewable-energy deployment, and quasi-sovereign financial institutions anchoring domestic banking and capital-market ecosystems. When looking across Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia, the period from 2023 to 2025 shows a clear pattern: operational output is stabilising after the post-crisis volatility, profitability has returned in most large utilities, and investment intensity is rising sharply as governments push accelerated decarbonisation and grid modernisation.
Serbia’s Elektroprivreda Srbije has repositioned itself from the crisis of 2021–2022 into a stronger financial and operational performer. Annual production again exceeds national consumption, with Serbia re-establishing itself as a structural net exporter of electricity. Coal still provides the bulk of generation, complemented by large hydro plants that stabilise the system in favourable hydrological conditions. Financially, the last two years demonstrated a dramatic turnaround, with earnings again positive, liquidity stable, and the utility increasingly able to finance capital investments from internal cash flow rather than emergency borrowing. Serbia now treats EPS not only as an energy company but as a strategic national balance-sheet asset that directly affects inflation, industrial competitiveness, household stability and sovereign borrowing credibility.
Croatia’s HEP shows how hydro-dependent systems experience a very different earnings cycle. In hydrologically favourable years, the country shifts from net importer to net exporter, with elevated export revenues and comfortable system margins. When rainfall weakens, Croatia turns back into an importer and financial results contract correspondingly. Even so, HEP remains fundamentally profitable and continues to expand its renewable and solar portfolios while maintaining a relatively measured leverage profile. It is a good example of a stable operator executing a gradual, disciplined decarbonisation without destabilising the balance sheet.
Romania represents the highest-performing SEE electricity system from an investor’s standpoint. Hidroelectrica remains one of the most profitable utilities in Europe on the back of a very large, depreciated hydro fleet supported by market prices that continue to monetise its low-cost generation advantage. Electrica demonstrates that the Romanian regulatory model adequately supports distribution, allowing steady recovery of costs through tariffs and enabling predictable EBITDA performance. Romania’s utilities, therefore, are no longer just operationally strong; they are financial institutions producing steady dividend streams, funding major refurbishments and anchoring grid-modernisation programmes that are fundamental for future renewable-energy absorption.
Bulgaria’s energy system is structurally different because of its centralised holding structure and the dominance of nuclear and lignite-based generation. Profitability remains strong and dividends to the state budget are significant, proving that even relatively carbon-intensive generation portfolios can remain financially powerful when backed by scale, regulated frameworks, and a balanced generation mix that includes nuclear baseload.
Bosnia and Herzegovina shows the other side of volatility. System-wide, Bosnia remains one of the largest net electricity exporters in the Western Balkans, but individual utilities suffer sharply when hydrology deteriorates or lignite production underperforms. Large swings between profit and loss in short cycles underline exposure not only to rainfall patterns but to export-price dynamics, domestic tariff structures and rising environmental-compliance costs. Bosnia demonstrates clearly that export status alone does not guarantee financial resilience.
Montenegro’s EPCG is another hydro-dominated system heavily influenced by water inflows. In strong years the company delivers healthy profits and supports the state budget; in weak hydrological periods earnings compress sharply and imports rise. Nevertheless, the company is not financially distressed. It maintains liquidity, shoulders significant investment programmes and is in the middle of the most important generation and environmental-compliance modernisation phase in decades.
North Macedonia’s ESM remains strategically dominant domestically but faces a structural transition challenge. With lignite still forming a critical element of supply, the company needs to simultaneously maintain reliability, reduce environmental exposure and execute one of the most demanding transition investment programmes in the region. It is system-critical and policy-driven, meaning its success will determine national market stability.
Greece’s PPC stands out as the most transformed and future-oriented utility in South-East Europe. It has completed restructuring, restored profitability, stabilised leverage, resumed dividends and positioned itself as a regional player rather than a narrow national company. Its generation mix is rapidly shifting toward renewables and flexible gas, supported by a corporate strategy and financing framework that resemble major Western European utilities more than Balkan incumbents.
Across SEE the structural picture is consistent. The region generates well over 150 TWh annually, controls between 30 and 40 GW of installed capacity, and maintains critical export capability when hydrology is supportive. Coal and lignite systems remain powerful but increasingly exposed to environmental and market pressures, while hydro-rich systems remain profitable yet vulnerable to climate variability. Financially, the larger utilities consistently produce hundreds of millions of euros in annual profits, enabling self-financing of capital expenditure and reducing dependency on emergency debt. The smaller hydro-dependent utilities remain more exposed but are nonetheless maintaining investment commitments essential for long-term security. For investors, lenders and policymakers, SEE utilities have become central macro-economic anchors and irreplaceable execution vehicles for the transition. Their future value will depend on hydrological stability, disciplined tariff regulation, timely execution of renewable capacity, and credible governance frameworks capable of managing multi-billion-euro transformation programmes without destabilising national economies.
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