Region's Officials in Belgrade Advocate Regionalization of Energy Market

"Possibilities for investing into renewable energy sources in Western Balkans" , Belgrade, Nov.17 2022 (BETAPHOTO/AMIR HAMZAGIC)

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama stated in Belgrade on Nov. 17 that markets in the Western Balkans were small and that a regional market was needed for a simpler access to finance and a stronger partnership with the private sector.

"Without a doubt, in these very difficult times, what we said when we launched the Open Balkan and when we advocated broader regional cooperation, is becoming ever more obvious. We must also regionalize our energy markets and go beyond our borders. We have small markets and if we do something in isolation it can only be more expensive," Rama told reporters after the regional conference "Possibilities for investing into renewable energy sources in Western Balkans," organized by the Norwegian embassies in Belgrade and Sarajevo.

The president of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zoran Tegeltija, assessed that existing electricity production capacities in Bosnia should be modernized and expanded, but kept state-owned. He added that participation of the state was the only way to make sure that there will always be enough electricity, and that he also advocated renewable energy sources on the basis of public-private partnership.

Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic stated that all countries of the Western Balkans expected energy dependence to be reduced and the building of energy facilities for making electricity out of renewable sources. Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski said that the time was right to use the possibilities for green energy in countries of the Western Balkans and to develop the region as a place where green energy is created.