Prishtina, 23.11.2017 – We are addressing all problems affecting the energy sphere with utmost seriousness, said the Minister of Economic Development, Valdrin Lluka, in the conference on “Energy supply of the production sector in Kosovo: Renewable Energy” organized by Kosovo Producer’s Club, in cooperation with the USAID Empower and MED, held in Prishtina today.

Participating in the conference were the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, Head of the Cooperation sector in the EU Office, Luigi Brusa, Anes Jusec from the Energy Sector of EBRD’s Main Office, Executive Director of the Kosovo Producer’s Club, Astrit Panxha, and heads of different production companies.

In this event, Minister Lluka reemphasized his assessment that the current state of energy supply in Kosovo is not satisfactory, and that in addition to the high losses, other problems the sector faces are the quality of energy supplied, which causes irreparable damage to business facilities, and unfavorable tariffing.

“Kosovo is the only country in Europe in which businesses subsidize household tariffs. Businesses pay tariffs that are 20-30 percent higher than household tariffs, while it is the opposite in all European Union countries. Normally, they should be balanced,” he said.

The Head of MED said that the decision that releases large companies with over 50 employees and 10 million euros in annual turnover from the obligation to be regulated by ERO and allows them to operate freely in the market will enter into force on 31 March 2018, while small and medium businesses and households will continue to be regulated for a while longer. According to him, this will be translated into better tariffs for large businesses, as it will eliminate a number of unnecessary barriers.

Speaking of energy efficiency, Minister Lluka said that the Law on Energy Efficiency is drafted and its adoption is expected in the first quarter of next year. This draft, which was finalized and is expected to be proceeded in January of next year, also contains provisions on the EE Fund.

“What is important about the EE Fund is that the European Commission has committed 10 million euro, and we have budgeted around two additional million, and since we have interest from other donors as well, we expect that the initial fund will be between 20 and 30 million euro,” Minister Lluka said, adding that the fund should be operational as of mid-next year and function in a sustainable manner.

As regards renewable energy sources, the head of MED said that around licenses for around 150MW of generation in renewables are already granted, including 30MW for solar energy and 120MW for wind power, while expressing the government’s interest to expand the scope of such licenses, in conformity with EU trends. Minister Lluka expressed his willingness to initiate auctions for extending renewable energy capacities in the country.