Prishtina, 07.06.2019 – The meeting of the working group for integration of Kosovo and Albania’s energy markets was held today.

This meeting was attended by the Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Xhavit Zariqi, and Dorina Çinari, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy of Albania, as well as representatives from USAID and Energy Community Secretariat, and members of joint technical groups.

The Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Xhavit Zariqi, at the opening of the meeting gave an introductory speech before those present, whereby he requested for this meeting to identify barriers that are hindering the merger of the market.

 “I think it is important to identify barriers in the light of this joint initiative so that the process can acquire more rapid dynamics”, he stated.

Also, Zariqi praised the establishment of the Power Exchange, approved by Albania’s Council of Ministers on 15th of May 2019, and requested that the Power Exchange becomes operational within the year.

“Recently, the Council of Ministers of Albania approved the establishment of the Power Exchange, and I believe that this is one of the key elements for this process to acquire a new dimension. I believe this new momentum should make the steps forward more dynamic, so that the first phase of this process, i.e. the establishment of the Day-Ahead market, to be completed within this calendar year”, he stated.

During this productive meeting, the working group discussed in details the stagnations and the potential legal and technical changes that could possibly bring to live the merger of the Kosovo-Albania energy market. Furthermore, they set the tasks that must be concluded before the next meeting, in the light of the joint plan.

Both parties considered that USAID’s technical assistance to this process has been of great importance, and expressed their gratitude to relevant projects for their support to this process. Everyone agreed that such bilateral integration is the first step toward regional integration, which is an obligation under Western Balkan countries integration process.