Page 42 - BNE_magazine_06_2019

42 I Southeast Europe bne June 2019
Albania to establish energy bourse to liberalise electricity market
Valentina Dimitrievska in Skopje
Albania is set to establish its first energy stock exchange as part of the government's plans to liberalise the electricity market, the infrastructure ministry said on May 16.
The bourse will be set up in line with European directives to advance reforms in the energy sector.
The decision to establish the energy bourse was approved by the council of ministers on May 15.
"The bourse will operate on the basis of a day-ahead and intraday market platforms," Infrastructure and Energy Minister Belinda Balluku said.
The decision was made possible thanks to the cooperation of the International Finance Cooperation (IFC) and the European Energy Community Secretariat.
“The establishment of the Albanian Energy Stock Exchange marks a new standard of operation and transparency in this sector and will be an incentive for the deregulation of the electricity market,” Balluku said.
The energy stock exchange is expected to increase security of the electricity supply, and to lead to regional and wider integration of the market, as well as more investments in the sector.
The bourse will be run by a joint stock company that will be established by the state-owned transmission system operator, OST.
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in Russia in 2018, will be tried in absen- tia in a separate case.
As expected, the jail sentences for the DF leaders angered the party. Mandic and Knezevic claimed that Djukanovic and his brother Aco had ordered the court to find them guilty and faked the coup plot.
Mandic urged Serbia’s President Alek- sandar Vucic and the Serbian govern- ment to end communication with Podgorica and asked for solidarity from Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Serb-dominated entity, Republika Srpska, and the Serbian member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, Milorad Dodik, claiming
the verdicts were discrimination against Serbs in Montenegro.
The case was built on statements by the key witness for the prosecution, Sasa Sindjelic. When the trial opened in September 2016, Sindjelic said he had been hired by Sirokov to organise a coup in Montenegro in order to prevent the country from joining Nato. Sindjelic also said that the DF participated in plotting the coup and was supposed to provoke clashes on election night in order to forcefully take over power.
Sindjelic also said in his initial testimony that the DF was aware of the plan and was actively participating in it. He claimed that people he hired provided Kalashnikov machine guns for the plotters. Sindjelic said that the coup
plot could have only been organised by members of the DF as they were the only ones aware of the whole plan aside from himself and Sirokov.
However, in March 2019, he backed off from his statements, saying that the suspects behind the alleged attempt to overthrow the government did not plan a coup and only wanted to rally in sup- port of the opposition.
Although the DF was expected to provoke unrest in Montenegro after the verdicts were announced, so far party members have only spoken against the verdicts and have taken no further actions.