The Office of the Ombudsperson has once again called on the Energy Regulatory Office (ZRRE) to begin compensating citizens for electricity consumed in the northern part of Kosovo between 2013 and 2017, in accordance with a ruling from the Constitutional Court. However, the ZRRE’s decision to compensate citizens has been blocked by KEDS, the electricity distribution company, which claims it was not a party in the dispute.
Halit Berani, a human rights activist, describes the situation as discrimination, not only due to the unequal payments of electricity consumers in Kosovo but also for the failure to compensate citizens who have been forced to pay for unpaid energy bills since 1998.
“This is more than discrimination. This should have been done from the start, just as we paid, without it going to court. But the Serb consumers were privileged,” Berani told Radio Kosovo.
In March 2024, the Ombudsperson’s Office renewed its call for the implementation of the ZRRE’s compensation decision, highlighting that the failure to compensate citizens for unpaid electricity from Serb-majority municipalities violates the anti-discrimination law.
Petrit Çollaku from the Ombudsperson’s Office emphasized that the ZRRE must address this discrimination, asserting that any delay represents a legal violation. “On March 28, the Ombudsperson once again requested compensation from the ZRRE, as the billing violations were against the law,” he said.
In 2018, the Basic Court ordered that electricity consumers in Kosovo’s northern municipalities be compensated for unpaid energy bills dating back to the 1998-1999 war. However, Ymer Fejzullahu, the head of the ZRRE, noted that the implementation of this decision is complex and finding funds for compensation is difficult.
“Based on the Constitutional Court’s decision, the ZRRE made a ruling for compensation, but there are other mechanisms that can force KEDS to comply,” Fejzullahu said.
Seven years later, the ZRRE’s decision is still blocked by KEDS, which argues that it was not involved in the dispute between the Ombudsperson and the ZRRE regarding compensation.
Lulëzim Krasniqi, a spokesperson for KEDS, told Radio Kosovo that the company had suspended the decision in line with the legal framework, awaiting a judicial resolution.
In Serb-majority municipalities in the northern Kosovo, where residents have not been billed for electricity usage since 1999 due to security concerns and Serbia’s ongoing influence, billing and payment remain a major issue. In 2022, under a Brussels Agreement, Kosovo authorities licensed Elektrosever to handle the billing and collection of electricity payments in the north. However, officials from the company stated that only about 10% of the bills are currently being collected.
According to government data, the total value of unpaid electricity since 1999 amounts to around €320 million.
