Economy Minister: We cannot decide for the pipeline without knowing the total cost

“As far as the construction of gas infrastructure we have been in constant co-operation with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which is the US Development Agency, the reason is that the MCC has started a feasibility study and then the feasibility of building gas infrastructure in Kosovo and has been visiting as much as $200 million, which could be used for building this infrastructure. One thing that is unclear is that the MCC would not finance the entire project, because we would have to do with a much larger investment if we were to decide to build this”, Rizvanolli said.

Minister Rizvanolli said further that the project for the SEC gas pipeline has to do with American or any other state gas, but for infrastructure that would bring natural gas.

The “is recently talking about American gas, one thing should be clarified when we're talking about building infrastructure we're not talking about American gas or any other country, the option being discussed is building infrastructure that would enable the behavior of natural gas. I wouldn't have described as a reluctance or a preference to the government, we've read feasibility studies, with MCC experts, which consists of more than 10 experts who have worked on this study and it's not a matter of preference that the decision we make is the right”, she said.

Rizvanolli said that financing for the project must still be clarified.

There are, in particular, several issues that require clarification, such as finances, and we know what the total cost would be, who would finance, who would build the thermal power plant, which was said to be built with public-private partnerships. We would also have to take loans in large amounts to complete the project, which would pay consumers. Decisions will not be taken without knowing what it will cost, and without knowing what the energy consumer's price will pay for”, Minister Rizvanolli said.