Minister confirms delay in electricity market liberalization

The government remains on the decision to delay the electricity market liberalization, economy minister Bekim Neziri said, as quoted by MINA agency’s Macedoniaonline.eu portal.

“Full liberalization of the electricity market in Macedonia would lead to an increase in the household electricity price. Even the current prices are high for citizens, and therefore we remain on the decision over delay of the electricity market liberalization by 18 months. The ministry is analyzing the effects of the delay and we believe the decision is also supported by citizens,” he told reporters at the sidelines of the Macedonian-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce assembly.

Neziri: We remain on the decision over delay of the electricity market liberalization by 18 months.

According to him, the government had already responded to the communication from the European Energy Community (EC), which urges for continuation of the electricity market liberalization in Macedonia within two months. Neziri stressed that Macedonia currently has the most liberalized electricity market in the region. “Forty percent of the Macedonian electricity market is liberalized. No other Balkan country has liberalized more than ten percent of its market, some are not liberalized at all,” the minister underlined.

Two days earlier, the Energy Community Secretariat submitted a reasoned opinion as the next step in the dispute settlement case against the former Yugoslav republic. “Prohibiting consumers to choose their supplier is another manifestation of the current government’s deliberate policy of systematically refusing to accept the country’s obligations under the Energy Community Treaty and, consequently, EU law. This trend has recently become more and more visible and manifests itself in several open breaches of Energy Community law, including among others also the non-acceptance of a binding target for renewable energy and the failure to respect Second and Third Energy Package rules in the gas sector when cooperating with Russian partners,” its press release said. The current problems in the energy sector mirror other problems of the country, which is sinking into isolation, the statement said.