Starting from February 29, the distribution of electricity bills has begun in northern Kosovo. The bills are issued by the company Elektrosever, which is owned by Serbia’s energy company, Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS).

This company obtained the license from the authorities in Kosovo on June 24, 2023.

Residents in northern Kosovo, predominantly inhabited by Serbs since 1999, have not paid for the electricity consumed.

The residents of the municipalities of North Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zvecan, and Zubin Potok will now receive bills for their electricity consumption at their addresses. The bill includes a fixed minimum payment of 21.60 euros.

In a bill issued by the company Elektrosever, obtained by Radio Free Europe, it was stated that it was a “pre-bill for the energy consumed for the billing period”. The bill is in Albanian and Serbian languages, and the fixed payment amount also includes 8 percent Value Added Tax.

Together with the bill, contracts for electricity supply have also been sent to citizens in northern Kosovo.

According to this contract, the billing of consumed electricity is “calculated according to the agreed tariff model”, meaning there will be both high and low tariffs.

Once citizens pay the fixed bill of 21.60 euros, Elektrosever will consider that the supply contract has been concluded.

At the beginning of this year, the Kosovo Electricity Transmission, System and Market Operator (KOSTT) announced that the registration of consumed electricity had begun in four municipalities in northern Kosovo, emphasizing that electricity would be paid for in the same way as in the rest of the country.

In early December 2023, the European Union announced that the Serbian company, Elektrosever, had signed a commercial energy contract with the Kosovo Electricity Distribution Company (KEDS).

On June 21 of the same year, Kosovo and Serbia signed the guideline for the implementation of the Energy Agreement, which was reached in 2013 within the framework of the dialogue mediated by the European Union.

However, neither the agreement nor the guideline were implemented. The agreement signed within the dialogue framework aims to regulate the issue of electricity supply and billing for four municipalities in northern Kosovo: North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Leposavic, and Zubin Potok.

The residents of these municipalities have not paid for the electricity consumed since 1999. Over the years, their debt has been paid by citizens of other municipalities in Kosovo and since 2017 by the Government of Kosovo.