Prishtina, 26 November 2011 – Senior representatives of the Ministry of Economic Development, Municipality of Mitrovica and GIZ inaugurated yesterday the project for efficient lighting of the “Brigada 141” in Mitrovica, at an overall value of 59 thousand euro, aimed at providing annual energy savings of 14 thousand euro.

Symbolically the lights were turned on by the Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Gani Koci, the Mayor of Mitrovica Municipality, Avni Kastrati, and the representative of the German Agency for International Cooperation GIZ, Gabriele Becker.

At the occasion, Deputy Minister Koci emphasized that the project for efficient lighting of a number of streets in Mitrovica represents merely one piece of the project package that MED is developing in respective municipalities in Kosovo, in cooperation with GIZ.

“This project is not aimed at physical generation of energy, it is aimed at energy saving in street lighting, without endangering the quality of lighting, at decreasing energy demand and improving security of energy supply,” said Koci.

Further, he expressed his gratitude to GIZ and the municipalities for their cooperation and underlined that a number of projects are currently being developed, based on European Commission funding, to implement energy efficiency measures in 65 schools and two healthcare facilities. According to him, the projects are also aimed at meeting the requirements related to the country’s approximation with the EU.

On the other hand, the Municipality of Mitrovica, Avni Kastrati, highly appreciated the benefits from this project, which will provide the citizens with qualitative lighting, while preserving energy. He also expressed his interest for the implementation of further such projects.

On her part, GIZ representative, Gabriele Becker, expressed her gratitude to central and local institutions for the close cooperation in implementing efficiency projects, while promising GIZ’s continuous support.