Government declares problem with electricity and ZERE bills

According to a draft ZERE report, commercial electricity losses are being billed to consumers who regularly pay the electricity, even these loads are being done for several years now.

Besides billing, even problems in completing the Energy Regulatory Office (ZRRE) are addressing the Office of Prime Minister Haradinaj.

The prime minister's “Office is carefully addressing the problem created regarding energy bills and is working on completing the ERE, since some board members have passed the mandate. This creates conditions for taking measures to regulate payments under law”, Haki Shatri, adviser to Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, has said.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Kosovo Chamber of Economics (OEK), Safet Gerjaliu, has said the price of electricity has been inconsistently unfavourable for businesses and citizens.

According to him, billing commercial losses, citizens who regularly pay electricity bills is a violation of human rights.

He says the State Attorney should be taken over with this case.

“This is happening around electricity bills, is a testimony to what state it is dominant in Kosovo, where we have a degree of extreme poverty, where citizens live in difficult conditions. Calculation of losses to these citizens is a violation of human rights, a moment when the State Prosecutor must be active”, Gerjaliu said, in an interview for Telegrafi

Unlike an estimate of commercial losses, consumers on average have paid 22.51 percent more electricity than they have spent from 2006 to 2016.

So if a consumer has paid 100 euros in electricity, they are charged with 22.51 euros to cover commercial electricity losses.

During 2015 alone, maximum access has been 240m euros, and 16.48% of that amount is covered by commercial losses.