Elected MPs from parties previously in the opposition have described the reasoning of the acting Minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli, regarding the Government's insistence on coal gasification and not on connection to the regional American gas network as a fraud.
During the day, Rizvanolli said in a video on Facebook that Kosovo is not against American gas. She said that Kosovo has no connection to Russian gas either. She emphasized that instead of building a gas pipeline and accompanying infrastructure, the Government has seen a more appropriate solution in importing liquefied gas through Vlora, producing energy there and transmitting it without the need for additional investments.
And in reaction to it, the elected MP of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Avdullah Hoti, called Rizvanoll's statement a fraud.
"Here's why Rizvanolli's statement is misleading: Kosovo does not directly use Russian gas for energy. Instead, Kosovo imports energy from countries that produce energy using Russian gas," he wrote on Facebook.
Meanwhile, Enver Hoxhaj of the Democratic Party of Kosovo said that Kosovo does not need justifications for not connecting to American gas, but vision and strategic decision-making to become part of it.
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Government insists on coal gasification, reiterates that it is not against American gas
"In 2019, the Kurti Government canceled the Kosovo project with ContourGlobal. In 2021, it rejected the US-backed American gas project. Today, it is rejecting yet another opportunity to join the American gas corridors, returning to the same argument, coal. Energy independence is an economic necessity for the country's development, but also a geopolitical necessity to keep the US engaged in Kosovo. All countries in the Balkans and Europe have understood this. Serbia is also connecting to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) corridors, while Kosovo continues to isolate itself with wrong political decisions. Kosovo does not need excuses for not connecting to American gas. Kosovo needs vision and strategic decision-making to become part of it," Hoxhaj wrote on Facebook.
While the US has demanded that Kosovo become part of the regional American gas project, the Government insists on support for projects related to coal gasification, citing the large reserves of lignite and President Donald Trump's policies to support the coal industry.
The United States has expressed its intention to change the way the Western Balkans is supplied with energy, by making a network of agreements for the import of liquefied gas.
The aim is to reduce the region's dependence on Russia and strengthen the energy corridor from the south to Central Europe. To this end, projects are planned in several countries in the region - from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro, to Kosovo and Serbia. These projects include new pipelines, liquefied gas terminals and gas-fired power plants, and are politically and financially supported by the US and the European Union.
Kosovo has no gas infrastructure and relies entirely on coal-fired power plants.
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Hoti: Kosovo dares not leave the US, the moment for the voice of citizens
The project for a gas interconnector with North Macedonia was previously included in the EU's investment plan for the Western Balkans, but was shelved due to, as the government has said, high costs and a strategic focus on renewable energy sources. The pipeline would give Kosovo access to gas from Greek LNG terminals in the Aegean Sea, and the idea was to also build a pipeline to Albania.
Kosovo has refused to invest around US$200 million in gas infrastructure through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) program and has diverted the funds to battery energy storage systems.
