Prishtina, 16 June 2025, dtt-net.com – Kosovo private sector companies continue calling the caretaker government and energy regulatory body for a one-year transition period, to enable them and the electricity market to adapt for a meaningfull competitive environment in the sector, and freely chose lowest electricity prices and avoid monopoly of existing distributor which is offering prices of 250% higher than until last month, after the government-controlled regulatory body, ZRrE, imposed passage to free market as of this month.
The chairman of the Kosovo Economic Chamber (OEK), Lulzim Rafuna, in an interview with dtt-net.com recalled the call for the transitory period of one year, expressing concern that if not, more than 1300 companies will suffer consequences of extreme prices being offered by the Turkish KEDS/KESCO company, which would directly affect their operations and damage country’s economy as consequence at the same time.
According to the ZRrE decision, companies with more than 50 employees and 10 million euro income per year cannot benefit anymore of preferential electricity prices and have to move to free energy market as of this month.
“If these businesses suffer consequences, then the economy of Kosovo will suffer consequences and the citizens of Kosovo too,” Rafuna told dtt-net.com, expressing his worries about the situation created.
“Our request is for the government to reflect, to save the country’s economy with a decision for a 1-year transition period,” he called once more time.
In the meantime, Kosovo’s ZRrE has initiated procedures for a six-month temporary urgency period, for those companies which have not reached agreements with existing or few newly licenced electricity distributors.
The so called “The Last Resort Provider” rule says that companies should apply to the Kosovo public power production company, KEK, for deals for purchase of electricity, as the company is also licenced to distribute electricity directly to consumers, but has not used it since the previous government in 2012 sold to KEDS/KESCO electricity distribution network of KEK.
KEK has not responded to the question of dtt-net.com of price per MWh it has offered for the temporary urgency six-month period to those companies which have applied so far.
Rafuna said that one of OEK requests and its members is that during the one-year transition period is for KEK too to start providing businesses with electricity, which would increase competitiveness with offers to the sole existing one at the moment (KEDS/KESCO), or to new private distributors to come in the market liberalisation.
Rafuna outlined other difficulties which some businesses are having, including of those which have started investing on their own electricity production with solar panels.
The OEK chairman said that those difficulties include the cost of investments and the surplus electricity they produce and do not need for their own consumption, but which is not purchased by grid owner companies, in this case KEDS/KESCO and KOSTT (Kosovo’s public transmission system operator).
“Businesses have started to invest in both solar panels and batteries, but this is a cost, and then the government is not following it up with more liberalized legislation… The law does not oblige the network to buy excess electricity from producers, companies, produced by solar panels. It does not buy it, not even KEDS. No one obliges them,” he explained.
Rafuna recalled that OEK and private companies have organized so far two street protests in capital Prishtina and more would be organized if their call for a one-year transition period is not decided by authorities.
(Written and edited by Ekrem Krasniqi)
