Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI) today organized a visit of the members of the Committee for Economic Development, Infrastructure, Trade, Industry and Regional Development of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, to the public company KOSTT (Transmission System and Market Operator Electricity of Kosovo).

This visit was attended by the chairwoman of this committee Sala Berisha – Shala and the member of the commission Mimoza Kusari – Lila, who met the chief executive of KOSTT, Ilir Shala and the board representatives.

The purpose of this visit was to inform the members of the Committee on Economic Development regarding the implementation of the Energy Agreement reached between Kosovo and Serbia in the framework of the Brussels dialogue and the issue of energy billing in the northern part of Kosovo.

The MPs asked KOSTT representatives to provide information on the progress in implementing the Brussels agreement and the costs as a result of the non-implemention of this agreement.

On the other hand, representatives of KOSTT informed the MPs that so far Kosovo and Serbia have not agreed for the implementation of the energy agreement. The reason for not implementing the agreements is Serbia’s refusal to register a new company in Kosovo (Elektro Server) in accordance with the Republicc of Kosovo laws. They underlined that delays in the implementation has been reported to EU representatives, and have demanded to put more pressure on Serbia to implement the agreement.

According to KOSTT representatives, the failure to implement this agreement is causing huge financial losses for Kosovo and KOSTT, in particular. Only during 2017, KOSTT has had several million losses and from 2008 to 2017, Serbia is estimated to have benefited up to 52m euros from using Kosovo’s interconnection lines.

Representatives of KOSTT asked MPs to raise this issue in the Assembly and demand from the Government to find a lasting settlement as soon as possible. MPs pledged to address this issue as soon as possible in Kosovo Assembly sessions and they promised to push the government to address this issue with priority and seriousness.

This visit was organized in the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between KDI and the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo aimed at increasing the participation of citizens in the framework of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue and strengthening the Assembly’s oversight role towards the Government by funding of the Embassy of Switzerland.