Prishtina, 03 July 2020 – The Kosovo Agency for Energy Efficiency (KAEE) and the Kosovo Energy Efficiency Fund (KEEF) signed an agreement today at the Ministry of Economy and Environment (MEE) premises. The agreement signing event was also attended by the Minister of Economy and Environment, Blerim Kuçi.

The Government of Kosovo considers energy efficiency an essential component of strategic and economic planning and of the country’s development. Therefore, it is committed to contribute to achieving EU targets and to this end provides energy-saving incentives for citizens, open markets and new businesses applying for EE technologies.

As a signatory to the Energy Community Treaty and to the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), Kosovo is obliged to transpose and implement the Acquis communautaire related to energy efficiency. The Republic of Kosovo and the EE relevant institutions thereof have expressed their willingness to fulfil the obligations deriving from the Energy Community Treaty.

The Kosovo Energy Efficiency Fund has now been operationalized under the Energy Efficiency Law, making Kosovo the first country in the region to establish a financial mechanism for energy efficiency measures across energy consumption sectors.

Following the ratification of the agreement of 15 January 2015 between the Republic of Kosovo (Recipient) and the International Development Association in the amount of USD 31 million and based on the successful implementation of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Project for Kosovo (EEREPK), the Ministry of Economy and Environment expressed, through the Kosovo Agency for Energy Efficiency, its readiness to implement the final package worth EUR 5 million targeting municipalities through the Kosovo Energy Efficiency Fund under this agreement.

In order to expand the scope of the program on a more sustainable basis with the establishment of the Kosovo Energy Efficiency Fund, the EEREPK’s restructuring will secure additional funding, i.e. USD 10.37 million channelled into the grant funds of the EU Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA II), of which EUR 9.6 million in the field of energy efficiency.

All municipalities in Kosovo will benefit from this fund in education, health, administration and other sectors. Most importantly, the fund will create a permanent institutional structure as a financial mechanism that can continue the renovation of public buildings and eventually expand to the resident sector, e.g. apartment blocks and individual houses, and the private business sector.