a few seconds agoEconomics in the Hand of Power
Periskopi(8 years ago)
(8 years ago)There's “That was Prime Minister Haradinaj's reasoning about pardoning debts to water divers, who for years have avoided the law by not paying taxes for water exploitation. This reasoning gave them 58m euros in taxes that the state had failed to collect for 18 [...]
The uncertainty of electricity went through almost all of 2017. Since the KEK management alerts that Kosovo is ahead of an energy collapse, the focus of the two governments -- that Mustafa and Haradinaj -- was on finding a solution to the process of expropriation of Hades and Shipile villages, which were plagued by the alleged excavors in those parts, writes <x0 Ditore <X1> in the religious New Year number.
Despite the pledges, expropriation there dragged on for months, and as a result, Kosovo is importing half the energy it consumes. And the amount of import is expected to cause increased electricity prices, which could reach up to 20 percent for next year.
A little attention was given during the year to the “Trepca” plant. Although this company entered its law in 2017, it has not yet become a stock society, as the law envisions. Disregarding power over “Trepace” jeopardises the degradation of this enterprise, whereas if implementation of the law drags on further, the former metallural giant risks total bankruptcy.
The situation in the private sector has remained the same, and few have been made to improve it in 2017. The average salary in this sector remains lower than in the public sector, while the number of workers working without contracts - in informality - is estimated to be around 45 thousand. On the other hand, contrary to promises of growth, the minimum wage has remained the same now as 7 years of 130 euros for workers under the age of 35, and 170 over that age.
2017 concluded with the agreement to build the “New Kosovo <x1m euros, which is expected to bring investment of 1 billion and 300m euros. Yet, neither did this go by without being criticised; civil society rejected the construction of a new thermal power plant, which, according to them, makes Kosovo dependent on coal for the next 20 years.
(P) Security for electricity supply
Historically, reaching the agreement for the “New Kosovo thermal power plant, the construction of which is expected to begin at the end of 2018, or at the beginning of 2019. It was said that for even tens of years this thermal power plant will provide stable power supplies. The agreement was called convenient for Kosovo, even though the same has not yet been made public, even despite the Haradinaj Government's promises of transparency and civil society's calls to do so.
Based on what the Ministry of Economic Development has shown in terms of the agreement, the thermal power plant “New Kosovo will be built with a single supercrytic bloc, with minimal efficiency 40% and the gross electricity capacity of 500MW. According to the Executive Agency's announcement, the deal, which is also officially signed on December 20th, will pave the way for 1 billion euros in investments. Of them, 30 per cent will invest the company “Contour Global” itself, while others will be provided through loans from international financial institutions.
