When asked about the scandal with the Kosovo-Albania power line delays,
reported on Monday by the daily Kosovo newspaper “Zeri”, Prime Minister
Hashim Thaci preferred to not comment it, saying only that Prishtina is
following its own agenda for the construction of this line.
“I want to have detailed information before giving my opinion about this case. As regards the Kosovo institutions, we are fully respecting the agenda, hence I can speak only about the relations and responsibilities of the Kosovo government, which we are fulfilling”, Thaci declared, avoiding the concrete answer if he was informed by the Albanian side about what had happened.
The Director of the Transmission System Operator of Kosovo, Naim Bejtullahu, asked indirectly for the agreements that are signed with Germany to be respected, due to the obligations that both parties have to the German bank.
Bejtullahu did not comment the article written by Zeri, and he expressed his reservation about the responsibilities of the Albanian side on this project.
But he added that since the financing of this project is the German Bank for development, the parties have agreed to exploit the procurement procedures of this bank, which have not concluded yet.
Asked if the German Development Bank has complained about the delays, Bejtullahu declared: “We have no such information from the German Bank”.
The Kosovo TSO officials say that they have no information for the fact that this project has been delayed. However, the vice director admits that there are several delays, which are very complex, since the project costs 70 million EUR.
The Kosovo-Albania power line agreement was signed on September 2009. This project that goes for 238 kilometers, 153 of which in Albania and 85.5 in Kosovo, has a cost of 70 million EUR and the Kosovo part will be financed by the German Government through the German Development Bank, part as a grant and part as a loan.
The Albania side of the project will also be financed by the German Development Bank through a long-term loan.
The power line would end Kosovo’s dependence from the Serbian electricity, and after it was signed in 2009, it should have ended in 2012.
Top Channel
