The Kosovo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCC) has officially filed a lawsuit against the Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) at the Basic Court in Pristina, claiming “serious legal and procedural violations in the decision to liberalise the electricity market [as of June 1]”, according to KosovaPress.

The organisation wants the government to enable a fair and manageable transition phase. It claims that even if a law foresaw the market liberalisation passed in 2016, it was repeatedly deferred and the June 1 deadline was published no sooner than March 1. 

The KCC organised protests on May 29 and warned that “unless the institutions take concrete steps to address the demands of businesses, the protests will continue until they are met”. 

Opposition politicians claim that the politically connected energy companies keep the prices high.

“Vetëvendosje Movement in power, which for four years has done nothing other than place its own people at the head of institutions that produce energy, issue licenses and are called upon to oversee the energy market," the vice president of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Hykmete Bajrami, wrote in a Facebook post according to GazetaExpress.

In contrast to the companies’ protests, ERO announced on June 1 that "the continuation of the liberalisation of the electricity market has successfully begun", according to GazetaExpress.

"This process … will offer more opportunities for consumers to choose their electricity supplier freely. Market liberalisation aims to bring concrete benefits to consumers by increasing competition between suppliers,” according to ERO.

However, the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce said last week that out of 19 power companies licensed to supply electricity, only KESCO had made an offer to customers, at a price many times higher than the current rate, according to BalkanGreenEnergyNews. ERO announced that most suppliers are still analyzing customer profiles and preparing their offers, according to A2News.

At a press conference on June 1, KCC president Lulzim Rafuna said that out of 1,300 businesses, not even 30 have signed contracts with suppliers.

Acting Minister of Economy Artane Rizvanolli, commenting on the market liberalisation, said that from June 1, the Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEK) supplies all enterprises that have entered the free electricity market as a supplier of last resort and those which have not yet managed to sign supply contracts.

"KEK announces that energy for these enterprises for today, June 1, has been secured at an average price of €64.55 per MWh through the Albanian Electricity Exchange (ALPEX)," she wrote in a Facebook post according to GazetaExpress.

To this amount is added about €30 for network tariffs (KOSTT and KEDS), as well as additional costs for administration, risk and profit margin, the exact amount of which is not known,” explained KCC’s Lulzim Rafuna. This situation creates complete uncertainty, even when it comes to supply from the supplier of last resort, he said.

While large businesses in Germany pay around €200 per megawatt for energy and those in the region around €100, companies in Kosovo face offers that go up to €260, double those in the region, according to the owner of the company Frutex, Shaqir Palushi, quoted by KosovaPress.

Starting on June 1, businesses with an annual turnover of over €10mn or over 50 employees are required to buy electricity on the open market, losing the right to regulated prices. They account for some 37% of the total country’s electricity consumption. In Kosovo, the liberalisation of the energy market is set out in the Law on Electricity adopted in 2017, but its implementation has been postponed due to various circumstances.