More than 200,000 households in Kosovo have benefited from the Energy Support Package, funded by the European Union with €75 million, while an additional €6 million was allocated from Kosovo’s budget, bringing the total support to €81 million.
This was announced today at the closing ceremony of the “Energy Support Package in Kosovo,” organized by the Kosovo Energy Efficiency Fund (KEEF), KosovaPress reports.
Minister of Economy Artane Rizvanolli said the support had helped households get through the winter while also contributing to investments that would bring benefits in the years to come.
In her speech, Rizvanolli thanked the European Union for its support during a difficult period for Kosovo, the region and Europe.
“More than 200,000 households in Kosovo have benefited from the European Union’s Energy Support Package, worth a total of €75 million. We have supported families in getting through the winter, while investing for many more winters to come, and not only winters. On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, I thank the European Union for the support it provided during a very difficult period for us, the entire region and Europe as a whole. In Kosovo, with our outdated generation capacities, this challenge was particularly great. It was made even greater by the fact that, after the block tariff was abolished in 2017, the use of electricity for heating began to rise very rapidly, while electricity consumption was also increasing at a very rapid pace, sometimes even at double-digit rates within a single year,” Rizvanolli said
Rizvanolli stressed that energy efficiency was among the key priorities of the Energy Strategy, noting that Kosovo consumes more energy per unit of gross domestic product than the European Union and the regional averages.
European Union Ambassador to Kosovo Dirk Schuebel said the package had had a tangible impact on citizens’ lives.
Schuebel added that continued cooperation between Kosovo’s institutions and the EU would be important for advancing renewable energy and strengthening the country’s energy security.
Meanwhile, Njomza Hoxha, managing director of the Kosovo Energy Efficiency Fund, said that beyond easing the financial burden on citizens, the support had contributed to more efficient energy use and the implementation of the Energy Strategy.
