Citizens prepare for protest against electricity price hike
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"Day and night, if necessary, I will stay on the streets," says Maliq Mehmeti - a citizen outraged by the Energy Regulatory Office's (ERO) proposal to raise electricity prices by 15 percent.
Mehmeti and other citizens are expected to oppose this decision through protest, early next month.
The protest is being organized by the group "No to Electricity Price Increases in Kosovo! Not a Cent Too Much".
Citizen Maliq Mehmeti considers the increase unaffordable, comparing it to prices in European countries.
"[Electricity] is very expensive, more than in the West, more than in Switzerland. I have a son in Switzerland, my wife works, she gets 400 euros in salary, I pay 200 for electricity, half of my wife's salary goes to electricity. If my son in Switzerland pays, he has a salary of 5 thousand francs, he pays 2 thousand 500 francs a month. It's the same, we can't afford these prices. We need a massive protest, we all come out, young and old. Day and night if necessary, I will stay on the streets", Mehmet says.
Even citizen Fehmi Aliu It is stated that the proposal to increase the price of electricity is discriminatory.
"This price is unrealistic, discriminatory for all citizens, and I will join any protest that is organized. Here, on the contrary, considering the standard we have, they are becoming more expensive, if the state does not intervene, there is no one to stop them," say Aliu.
The group's founder, Luan Hasanaj, says that over two thousand citizens have already joined the call, who according to him consider Saturday - April 5, to be the day to protest the price hike.
"We have mobilized and are asking ERO, their board, not to make this decision. The opposition of citizens is very great, everyone we discuss with, not only with businesses, but also with citizens, everyone is ready to engage in opposition, whether through protests or other means," Hasanaj emphasizes.
Even economist Adem Qorrolli describes the growth as bad news for citizens and businesses.
He says that this decision will affect not only energy tariffs, but also the increase in prices of essential products, which will seriously affect the daily lives of citizens.
"The 15 percent increase in electricity is not very good news for the citizens of the country and businesses, because businesses will also have a tariff, pay for electricity before the time comes to use the energy and of course institutions are very close to doing business with energy. So when we have a government interest in making energy deals, then the citizen will also suffer and will certainly suffer with this 15 percent increase. And they will also suffer in all essential products, be they ordinary ones", says Qorrolli.
Days ago, the Chairman of the Board of the Energy Regulatory Office, Ymer Fejzullahu, in an interview with KosovaPress, also announced that an increase of about 15 percent in energy tariffs for end consumers is expected.
On March 14, the Kosovo Electricity Regulatory Office announced that it has proposed increasing the price of electricity by about 15 percent - next month./E.Krasniqi
