Arberi

Validation of the decision of the Foundation for the current in the north, "with consequences" for the Government

The Office of the Energy Regulator has 15 days to make a decision on the implementation or appeal of the decision of the Basic Court, which declares illegal the inclusion of expenses in the north in citizens' bills.

ERO has announced that it has not yet accepted the official decision of the Basic Court.

But, according to her, as soon as it is accepted by them, the Board will examine it and decide how to proceed further.

"The ERO has not yet accepted the official decision from the Court, and as soon as it accepts it, the Board will examine it and decide how to proceed with this matter, for which the public will be notified in time", says the response of the Office of Energy Regulator.

In the decision of the Court it is stated that KEDS is obliged to return to the consumers billed for the Serbian municipalities the amount in the value of more than 40 million euros.

KEDS told KOHEN that these issues are related to ERO and that the decisions belong to this institution.

"We are a regulated company. This issue concerns ERO and all decisions belong to this institution. For any information, please contact ERO", said Viktor Buzhala, KEDS spokesperson.

Ehat Miftari from the Kosovar Institute for Law says that if the decision of the Foundation is confirmed, there will be other consequences.

"If the decision becomes omnipotent, it would also have consequences in relation to the decisions taken by the Government and sent to the Assembly regarding the allocation of budget funds from the state budget for the payment of electricity for the northern part, even though we are talking about a the same situation, but now the payment is made in a different way", Miftaraj said.

Even Dardan Abazi, researcher at INDEP, says that indirectly the citizens of Kosovo will still pay for that current.

"If we will be compensated as citizens, the issue is who will make this compensation? KEDS can return the money, but KEDS will ask to be equalized again by the institutions of Kosovo. We as consumers are getting this payment back, but the budget is covering it. So again we as consumers are covering it through the budget", said Abazi.

Since 2017, governments have allocated funds to cover electricity costs in the north.

After the Court's decision, the KMDLNJ also reacted, saying that the discriminatory billing for the spent power constitutes all the elements of the criminal offense of misuse of official duty.

"Discriminatory invoicing for the spent current constitutes all the elements of the criminal offense of misuse of official duty through falsification of documents (invoices) and false presentation of the situation. KMDLNJ expects that when the final decision is taken, then the criminal responsibility of abusers of official positions will also be addressed", it is stated in the notice of KMDLNJ.

It is not the first time that the decisions of the ERO are challenged in the courts. Such are the decisions on issuing permits for hydropower plants.