Prishtina, 13 November 2013 – The Government of Kosovo and the International Financial Corporation (IFC) have signed today an agreement of cooperation part of assistance provided in the post-privatization process of the Kosovo Electricity Distribution and Supply (KEDS) Company.

The agreement was signed by the Minister of Economic Development, Fadil Ismajli, and the IFC Director for Europe an Central Asia, Tomasz Telma, whereas its purpose is to ensure assistance in expertise and advisory services from IFC during the monitoring of post-privatization, in order to address in a timely manner all relevant matters and to avoid unsuccessful experiences from the region.

Minister Ismajli, as the chairman of the Government Privatization Committee (GPC), said that bearing in mind the complexity, and public and strategic significance of the project, and other experiences in the region, the Government, in cooperation with the IFC and through its Post-Privatization Unit, will pay special attention to the post-privatization process, thus standing ready to address an relevant matters for a successful post-privatization on time.

“We have agreed that the implementation of this privatization will be followed, monitored, controlled, in order for us to be able to intervene whenever possible to find an optimal point of balance between company’s interests and consumers’ interests,” Ismajli said.

On the other hand, IFC Director for Europe and Central Asia, Tomasz Telma, stated that the agreement with IFC will help the Government of Kosovo in overseeing the implementation of the privatization and in ensuring that the project is appropriately implemented.

“On one side, we will ensure adequate implementation of an agreement that is signed, and on the other we will work with the Post-Privatization Unit to ensure that they get adequate capacities that they can use in the future,” Telma said.

The one-year cooperation agreement with IFC expires in one year and its continuation depends on Government of Kosovo’s needs and assessments.

Noteworthy, the Government Privatization Committee (GPC) has decided to continue the mandate of the KEDS post-privatization monitoring unit, which is mandated to perform the monitoring of the company on behalf of GPC and Government of Kosovo (GoK), respectively the monitoring of obligations deriving from contracts of this transaction, which is supported by the International Financial Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group.