Prishtina, 20.09.2021 – The Minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli in recent months has held several high-level meetings with representatives of the MCC (Millennium Challenge Corporation), including Alexia Latortue, Deputy Executive Director of MCC, Caroline T. Nguyen, Managing Director for Europe and Sarah Olmstead, MCC Director for Kosovo, where they discussed the compact program design and the support this program can provide to our energy sector.

After these meetings, Minister Rizvanolli last week together with representatives of the Cabinet, the Department of Energy of ME, ERO and the technical team of MCC in Washington and Kosovo, had a series of intensive e-workshops to discuss in detail and decide on compact program design.

During the workshop, the topic of discussion was the main problems and needs of the energy sector in Kosovo, including the cost of energy for the consumer, security of energy supply, flexibility in the network and diversification of energy sources in Kosovo.

Further, potential areas of cooperation between the Ministry of Economy and MCC to support the energy sector through jointly identified projects were discussed. These areas include potential investment in natural gas infrastructure, reduction of technical losses through distribution and transmission network investments, accumulation capacity investments, and development of workforce skills in this sector. Promoting gender equality in the energy sector and economic empowerment of women in this sector will be a necessary part of any cooperation in this field.

Minister Rizvanolli also expressed her gratitude for the continuous support of MCC and the USA in the field of energy.

“I am very grateful for the continued commitment of the MCC team and the continued support of the MCC and the United States of America in general in the field of energy for our close cooperation to develop this sector,” said Minister Rizvanolli.