COMM STT for Attic's demand for electricity: We're treating him carefully, and we're going to get him back within legal terms.

Kosovo's System, Transition and Electricity Market operator (KOSTT) has said it is carefully addressing the request of North Mitrovica Mayor Erden Attic for the payment of electricity at the municipality facility and all public sector institutions in that municipality.

COSTT's spokeswoman, Elvane Devégi, has said they will respond to Attic, within legal terms.
“COMM STT has accepted the request of North Mitrovica Mayor Mr. Attic for the payment of electricity at the municipality facility and all public sector institutions in that municipality. COSTT is carefully handling this request and in line with its mandate will return response within the legal terms”, Devedge for Gazette Express has declared.

The Energy Regulatory Office has stated that they are reviewing these requirements and that they are taking all relevant legal actions that are under the auspices of the ERE.

The “Office of Energy Regulatory has accepted official requests from the North Mitrovica Mayor and the mayor of the Leposaviqi municipality. The mayors' demand concerns taking necessary action in terms of keying and paying electricity to all public sector institutions that fall to local level competence. The Energy Regulatory Office is in the process of reviewing this requirement and is taking all relevant legal actions that are under the jurisdiction of the ZERE”, declared by the ZRRE.

Unlike Leposaviqi's North Mitrovica, the other two northern municipalities have not yet applied for access to the system.

“The ZERE has not accepted requests from the heads of Zubin Potok and Zvecan”, said the ZERECE reply.

Otherwise, the newly elected mayors of the northern municipalities have been addressed with official requests to the Energy Regulatory Office and COSTU for energy spent in these municipalities.

North Mitrovica Chairman Erden Attic and Leposaviqi's Lulzim Hetemi have called on these institutions to start paying electricity in public municipal institutions.

Attic has asked that this be done as soon as possible.

“I ask you to start taking the necessary actions to key all these institutions so that the municipality can begin paying the consumed energy”, Attic's request said.

They have also asked the authorities to report on the accumulated debt of the spent electricity.

I directed you today STT and ZRRE to lock up our public municipal institutions so that regular electricity payment can begin. The authority should also inform us of the accumulated debt of the spent electricity so that we can pay off those duties”, Hetem wrote.

For 18 years, the current citizens have spent in the northern part of Kosovo -- inhabited by Serb majority -- have paid citizens from other parts of the country.

The value of the electricity spent during 2022 in four Serb majority municipalities in northern Kosovo is over 63m euros.

In 2021, this value was around 42m euros, and according to a GAP Institute calculations, it turns out that in 2010-2020, citizens in the north have spent over 132m euros in electricity.

Expenses were paid by 2017 by citizens of other Kosovo municipalities and then by COST and the Government of Kosovo.

The refusal to pay the current has resulted from civic disobedience, but also the impact of various structures in the north, which have operated under Serbia's correction.

To pay off these debts, citizens of other parts of Kosovo have paid bills for 3.5 per cent more expensive.

From 2017 onward, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo has passed payment responsibility to the country's institutions. That same year, the Court of Appeals has demanded that consumers who have paid the current spent in the north for 18 years be compensated.

On April 18th, the Supreme Court has refused ZEREA's request to rescind the Appeal Act, saying consumers must return the means.

When and how this will be done, there is still no official information