Businesses threaten road blockades if ZRE does not suspend decision

Today, on June 21st, the 10-day deadline the business community had given to the Energy Regulatory Office (ZRRE) for suspending the decision obliging companies to supply energy from the open market.

This deadline was set on June 11th, during the second protest organised by the Kosovo Economic Oda, where hundreds of representatives of large companies warned stiffer measures if their demands are ignored.

With this deadline expired, business representatives warn new protests, including blocking national roads and highways, if the ZRR does not react.

Kosovo Business Alliance Chairman (AKB) Agim Sahini told Online Economy that Z's decision The RRE is jeopardising thousands of jobs and seriously damaging the image and functioning of large companies in Kosovo.

“The two protests organised by the business community and supported by economic organisations and by the Business Alliance have had the only purpose: to reverse the ZRE decision, where powerful businesses are brought into an open market and the open and free market is too expensive. With this, we are risking businesses with more than 143 thousand workers and that companies can reduce the number of employees”, Sahin said.

According to him, through this decision, the signal is being sent that only small companies rely on Kosovo, while the country needs large corporations.

The image of powerful companies is at stake, and with this we are showing that we only have politics to develop small, not large companies. And in Kosovo we need powerful corporations”, he added.

Sahin announced that following earlier protests, KEK has provided energy supplies for the next six months for businesses, but at the price of open market, which according to him is still too high and affordable for companies.

“We have given an additional 10-day deadline and that time is over and in the next week we will sit down to discuss future steps with the business community”, he said.

If demands are not taken into account, Sahin said a comprehensive protest could be taken, and in this context the blocking of major roads and highways of the country on the part of businesses.

We will continue with protests. The business community demands in Kosovo are to block all of Kosovo's roads, including the highway, with all the potential machines they have. We are considering this demand of them and certainly that if such a request is approved by all of us organisers, then the country's economy will suffer major losses”, Sahin said.

He noted that only from the past two protests, losses for the economy are estimated at 10m euros.

“The workers, the work tools have stopped, the work process stopped, were spent upkeep, time. All of this has had an economically negative impact”, he said.

Sahin also indicated that three companies have already been directly affected by the ZERE decision, where one has temporarily closed the sales points, another has reduced the number of workers, while others have entered the reshuffle.

These were not just workers. They were also consumers, taxpayers, contributors to the economy, and so we are becoming poor in the economy, lowering the standard level through the reshuffle of companies”, he said.

Sahin warned that if the situation does not change, Kosovo will remain one of the most expensive countries to do business in the Western Balkans and Europe.

But if this continues, Kosovo will remain one of the most expensive countries in the Western Balkans and in Europe”, Sahin said. /Periscopi