Prishtina, 14 October 2009 – Ministry of Energy and Mining in cooperation with the Kosovo Center for Energy Efficiency organized the Conference on the subject, “Enhancement of Energy Efficiency in Favor of a Quality Environment”.

Attending this conference, besides Minister Justina Shiroka – Pula and other MEM officers, were Chief of European Commission in Prishtina, Kjartan Bjornsson, representative of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Naser Grajçevci, Chief of Kosovo Chamber of Commerce Besim Beqaj, representative of the Kosovo Center for Energy Efficiency, Fllanza Hoxha, representatives of GTZ, KfW, etc.

Minister Pula expressed her gratitude to the attendees for their contribution in this area and said that MEM, with the support of ECLO, by the end of 2009, shall finalize the National Plan for Energy Efficiency, which will indicate annual and long-term targets that Kosovo needs to achieve with regard to energy efficiency.

“Our aim with the development and implementation of this Plan is to meet the EU imposed objectives for energy efficiency improvement by 20% by 2020. This is not an easy task, and a lot of capital investments are required, including a responsible public and capacity building and institutional development”, said the Minister.

Minister Pula said that MEM continues to implement demo capital projects in the use of solar energy for heating sanitary water, which aims to make the efficiency in Kosovo visible, namely in the use of solar energy for heating sanitary water.

Chief of the European Commission Kjartan Bjornsson requested the engagement of all parties in achieving this objective by 2020.

“This is not only a strategy to be met by MEM, but it must be achieved with the inclusion of all parties, including the central and local level, businesses communities and NGOs”, said Mr. Bjornsson.

Energy Efficiency plan is also supported by the business community. Chief of the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, Besim Beqaj, said that efficiency means also more energy, which is essential to alleviate the problems of businesses, and the citizens.

Conclusions of the Conference: Enhancement of Energy Efficiency in Favor of a Quality Environment

Promotion of efficiency to the public;
Public awareness on the implementation of efficiency measures;
Mobilization and encouragement of responsible Institutions for the development and implementation of policies for energy efficiency, such as MEM, MEF, MTI KCoC, Banks and other local and international.
 
Measures that every institution should support and implement
 
MEM proposes:

Law on Energy Efficiency
Action Plan and indicative annual targets for energy efficiency
Capacity building for the energy auditing staff with the aim of realizing efficiency Projects
 

MEF proposes:

Facilitative fiscal policies for domestic producers with the aim of increasing energy efficiency
Custom policy for imports of raw materials and end products required for the implementation of efficiency projects.
 

Local and international institutions: 

To support domestic producers by promoting efficiency and encouraging local businesses;
 To produce materials and products which would be in favor of improving energy efficiency?
To provide support and donations for the realization of concrete projects regarding energy efficiency:
 

Local and international NGOs:

To promote energy efficiency measures, and increase the awareness of the public

5) Commercial Bank policies should be more favorable to local business in the business of energy efficiency and for entities that implement efficiency in their buildings.