From Government said over 20,000 have been distributed, citizens in the north say they have not yet accepted any receipts

Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi, during reporting on a parliamentary commission on January 26th, has declared that “over 20 thousand bills have been distributed in the north for energy consumption during January”.

Despite Bislim's statement, some citizens surveyed by Radio Free Europe in municipalities in the north say they have not accepted any receipts.

We didn't get the electricity bill. We've been talking about this for months. There are various types of information or misinformation”, says Snezana Ratkoviq of Leposaviqi.

She says she owns an old electricity meter and that she has heard that “will be set new metres and, then, will start paying off electricity”.

Neither did Nenad, a North Mitrovica citizen, receive the figure about 20 miles [30 km] from Leposaviqi.

We're waiting for the new [met], because there are words that will begin electricity billing. There is no other information in the media or among people. Nobody [has received a bill], no one in my building”, he says.

Other citizens from North Mitrovica also say they have not received bills and that they have no information about the current's eventual payment.

In northern Kosovo, the number of electricity consumers is not correctly known.

The Kosovo government and KED, which is the company responsible for electricity supply, said so far, there have been around 20 thousand consumers registered based on those existing there.

However, there are buildings in the area that have no electric meters installed at all or that have dysfunctional measurements.

According to the Travel for Implementation of the 2022 Energy Agreement, it is first for KED to make the deployment of new distributors in that area.

This company said it expects Elektroseverer to compile an investment plan, along with required maintenance costs, which KEDS then handed over to the Energy Regulatory Office for Adoption”.

Klisman Cadiu, from Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi's office, said that the European Union has expressed concern for financing and purchasing new exchanges.

Neither the government nor the COSTT nor the European Union, which was the mediator of the Energy Agreement, have responded to who is currently paying the electricity in the north.

The Energy Regulatory Office (ZRRE) has said the supplier (in this case Elektrosveri) “is obliged to bill and collect consumer payments”.

“The provider is obliged to ensure that consumers are billed for energy spent on the type of fee agreed on”, the ZRE said.

This office, as well, explained that if any of the consumers don't have a power grid or its meter isn't functional, then he should sign a supply contract.

And then, KEDS should install/enable electrical exchangers so that consumers can have measurements of power expenditure”, the ZRE explained.

Elektroseveri is owned by Serbia's energy company ) EPS (Electroprivreda Srbije).

According to official data, between 2010 and 2022, a total of 237m euros (between average and 19m euros per year) have been paid for the current spent in the north.

The cost of electricity has increased significantly since 2021, due to the overall increase in energy prices as a result of various global crises.