Concern as Macedonia delays opening its energy market

Macedonia’s plans to delay fully opening up its electricity sector to competition have provoked dismay in an EU group tasked with boosting competition. The nation is a contracting party to […]

Macedonia’s plans to delay fully opening up its electricity sector to competition have provoked dismay in an EU group tasked with boosting competition.

The nation is a contracting party to the Energy Community Treaty, which aims to spread EU energy policy to non-EU nations.

Macedonia risks a “very clear breach” of the Energy Community Treaty which states the market should be open as of 1 January 2015, according to Janez Kopač, Director of the Energy Community Secretariat, which promotes the treaty.

Liberalising the market means all consumers including households and small businesses should be able to choose their supplier, he said.

He has written to Macedonian Minister for Economy Bekim Neziri expressing his concerns about a new draft law which could leave the “incumbent utility EVN… [with] a monopoly”.

Kopač said: “Such a decision is even less understandable taking into account the fact that the electricity market in Macedonia for bigger consumers is already liberalised, competition exists and the results are very encouraging for everybody except a monopolistic electricity provider.”

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