Prishtina, 18.12.2015 – The Government of Kosovo, represented by Minister of Economic Development, Blerand Stavileci, who is also the Chair of the Project Steering Committee (PSC) for the “Kosova e Re” Power Plant (KRPP), signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the US investor Contour Global.

The signing ceremony of the Memorandum took place in the premises of the Government of Kosovo, with an address by the Prime Minister, Isa Mustafa, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hashim Thaçi, Minister of Economic Development, Blerand Stavileci, and Chief Executive Officer of Contour Global for Southeast Europe, Garry Levesley. Guest of honor at the ceremony was President Atifete Jahjaga.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa, said this is an important investment for Kosovo, ensuring a security of supply, as one of the largest investments in Kosovo, and the fact that this investment comes from a private US investor has a special meaning, as it speaks of the confidence of USA and its private investors in Kosovo’s economy.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hashim Thaçi, concluded that the signing of the Agreement between the Republic of Kosovo and the US Company Contour Global is one of the most important moments for Kosovo’s economic development. According to him, this project will make the country an economic development center, with planned investments of over 1 billion euros and creating about 10 thousand new jobs.

In his speech, Minister Stavileci, stressed that this Memorandum of Understanding is the result of the negotiations which the team of the Government of Kosovo made with the Contour Global, and the agreement includes, inter alia, the following points of interest: an Interest Rate of Return (IRR) reduced from 27% to 21.5%; the plant will be built with a single supercritical block, with an efficiency rate of over 37 percent, and gross electric capacity of 500 MW, achieving an acceptable balance of the impact on electricity tariffs and security of supply of energy for the country.

“End consumer tariffs are lower than in any previous projection for the entire lifetime of the project, meaning they are affordable. The capital investment is approximately 1 billion euros. The project does not envisage a financial contribution of the Government, and a fund of 10 million euros will be earmarked for Community Development, exceeding budgets of municipalities affected by the project”, said Stavileci.

Minister Stavileci again commended this as a major project of the Republic of Kosovo, which is also the largest direct foreign investment, which will create thousands of new jobs during the construction phase, will meet all environmental and social directives of the EU and will provide a stable supply of electricity for the country.

The Minister stressed that the project has met the key criteria of the Government, which were security of electricity supply and price affordability.

On the other hand, Chief Executive Officer for South East Europe in Contour Global, Garry Levesley, said that this large investment of 1 billion euros will increase the country’s gross domestic production by about 1 percent, and will greatly improve the power supply.

After the completion of the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding, Minister Stavileci and Garry Levesley held a press conference discussing details of the project.