Annual progress report 2015 albanian contribution – input I september 2014 – may 2015 table of contents



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Key achievements
The Law 43/2015 of 30.04.2015 “On Power Sector” was adopted. The draft National Energy Strategy is being prepared and it will be finalised in 2015. Measures are taken to improve security of supply and power transmissions capacities with the Republic of Kosova and FYROM. Electricity prices were restructured and the two-block tariff system was removed, followed by measures to protect vulnerable customers. The Power Sector Financial Recovery Plan was approved and the Special Operational Unit of the Task Force is operational. ERE fulfilled its role as market regulator. Measures were taken to support the construction of Devoll Hidropower. The draft Gas Law is prepared and it will be adopted in the first half of 2015. The draft Law on Energy Efficiency and the draft Law on the Energy Performance in Buildings are prepared. The legislative framework in radiation protection was further elaborated.
The draft National Energy Strategy is being prepared by the working group set up under the Order of Minister of Energy and Industry No 29 of 17.01.2014. The new Strategy aims to define the main challenges, goals and actions for the period 2015 – 2030, taking into account the energy demands until 2030, increased requirements for use of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency, introduction of natural gas after 2020 (Trans-Adriatic Pipeline will be operational by 2020), and regional cooperation and the creation of a regional power market. The draft Strategy will be finalised in 2015.
15.1 Security of supply
In order to increase the security of supply, the following measures are taken:

  • Construction of 400 kV connection line Albania – Kosova has started and is planned to be completed in 2016. The project is financed by the German Bank KfW, which will provide 75.5 million Euro. Of this, 33.5 million Euro will fund the Kosovo section and 42 million Euro, the Albanian section. In order to enable the construction of the connection line, the Council of Ministers approved its Decision No 301 of 8.04.2015 “On the expropriation in public interest of owners of immovable properties, privately owned, that are affected by the construction of the connection lines 400 kv, Vau i Dejës – Morina”. According to this Decision, the Albanian Power Transmission Operator will pay around 10 million ALL (approximately 70,000 Euro) to the expropriated owners;

  • Construction of 400 kV connection line Albania – FYROM. The feasibility study for the construction of the Albania – FYROM interconnection line is completed. The German bank KfW has expressed its interest to finance the construction of this connection line. Albania and FYROM are cooperating in order to guarantee simultaneous building of the power connection, especially for the power line connecting Ohrid (FYROM) with Elbasani in Albania. Elbasani is the main hub in the southern primary grid and one of the main load centres in Albania;

  • Construction of Southern Ring is progressing. The strengthening of Zemblaku 400 kV substation is completed at 90%. The construction of the 110 kV power line Erseka – Përmeti and Vlora – Babica, and the rehabilitation of the other power line segments is accomplished at 69%.

The Gas Master Plan of Albania (GMPA) will be financed by the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) at a total of a 1.1 million Euros. The Terms of Reference for the GMPA were approved the WBIF. GMPA aims to investigate the diversification of energy resources, connection to regional and European gas networks, as well as the establishment of the gas sector and market in Albania. The GMPA is scheduled to be completed in 14 months.


The Albanian Government and the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan signed on 19.12.2014, a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the cooperation for the development of the Gas Master Plan Albania. Under this MoU, a feasibility study will be carried out aiming to scrutinise all the potential options of the GMPA’s. It will identify all the technical and commercial prerequisites for the development of the National Gas Master Plan, including a detailed guide on the infrastructure of natural gas in transport and distribution networks, and the interconnection of the Albanian network with the networks of the adjacent countries (Montenegro, FYROM, Kosovo, Greece) and the associated infrastructure, including but not limited to the underground gas storage, terminals of liquefied natural gas and the production of energy in the Albanian power plants.
The Council Directive 2009/119/EC of 14 September 2009 imposing an obligation on Member States to maintain minimum stocks of crude oil and/or petroleum products, will be approximated as stipulated in the conclusions of the last Oil Forum of the Energy Community held in Belgrade, Serbia, on 30 September 2014. In this respect, the Work Group set up by the Order of Prime Minister No 233 of 2.12.2013 “On establishing an inter-institutional work group for the review of the legal and institutional framework on keeping and managing the emergency oil stocks and their by products”, is cooperating with the experts of the Energy Community Secretariat to transpose the abovementioned Directive. The Work Group is analysing the Croatian, Kosovo and Macedonian model of emergency oil stocks.
Based on the 2013 average sales by the wholesale trade companies, the Minister of Energy and Industry issued his Orders on the quantities of oil stock reserve (by-products) which the companies are obligated to store in 2015, as follows:


Fuel type

Quantities (in tonnes)

Vehicles petrol

16,233

Gasoil

132,885

Solar

6,006

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)

14,676

Fuel for aircrafts

2,409

TOTAL

172,209

Source: Ministry of Energy and Industry
Total crude oil production in 2014 was 1,368,228 tonnes. Total associated gas production in 2014 was 32,067,000 Nm3.
15.2 Energy market
The Law No 43/2015 of 30.04.2015 “On Power Sector”, partially approximating the Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity and repealing Directive 2003/54/EC, was adopted by the Albanian parliament.
As previously reported, the dispute between the Albanian government and CEZ was settled through negotiations. Following the settlement, the following legal acts were adopted:

  • Law No 126/2014 of 25.09.2014 “On the ratification of the agreement on the sovereign guarantee and compensation between the Republic of Albania, Vseobecna Uverova Banka, S.A., Slovakia, and Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Albania, S.A., on the counter-guarantee of Vseobecna Uverova Banka, S.A., Slovakia, for the bank guarantee agreement between the Power Distribution Operator S.A. and Vseobecna Uverova Banka, S.A., Slovakia, and the loan agreement Between the Power Distribution Operator S.A. and the Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Albania, S.A. According to the Law, Albania issued a sovereign guarantee worth 86 million Euro to Vseobecna Uverova Banka acting as the guarantor of the settlement between OSHEE and CEZ;

  • Decision on the Albanian Power Regulator (ERE) No 90 of 6.10.2014 “On the approval of the transfer of shares of OSHEE S.A. (previously known as “CEZ distribution” S.A.), from the CEZ S.A. to the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Entrepreneurship. Taking into account the Law No 114/2014 of 31.07.2014 that approved the settlement between the Republic of Albania and CEZ. S.A., ERE approved the transfer of the shares of OSHEE S.A. to the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Entrepreneurship;

  • Decision of the Albanian Power Regulator (ERE) No 96 of 27.10.2014 “On licensing Power Distribution Operator S.A. to carry out the activity of power distribution”;

  • Decision of the Albanian Power Regulator (ERE) No 97 of 27.10.2014 “On licensing the Power Distribution Operator to carry out the activity of retail public supplier”;

  • Decision of the Albanian Power Regulator (ERE) No 98 of 27.10.2014 “On terminating the temporarily administration of the company Power Distribution Operator S.A. (OSHEE)”. Based on the Decisions 96, 97 and 98, OSHEE S.A. was licensed as power distributor and retail public supplier. ERE repealed its Decision of the Board of Commissioners No 5 of 21.1.2013 and subsequent decisions terminating the temporary administration of OSHEE.

Concerning the increase of electricity prices to cost-recovery levels, ERE approved its Decision No 148 of 26.12.2014 “On deciding the retail prices of electricity for tariff consummators, for 2015”. The new price structure removed the two-block tariff system, taking into account that the application of this system designed as an energy efficiency measure aiming to discourage use of electricity for heating and to direct the customers to other energy resources, didn’t produce the expected results. The price for household customers starting from 1 January 2015 was set at 9.5 ALL/kWh.


For the protection of vulnerable customers, the Council of Ministers approved its Decision No 8 of 14.01.2015 “On the protection of vulnerable groups, due to the removal of the two-block tariff of electricity”. The Decision defines the vulnerable groups that will be supported with 648 ALL (approximately 4.6 Euro) per family per month. For the implementation of this Decision, the Guideline of the Minister of Finance, Minister of Energy and Industry and Minister of Social Welfare and Youth No 1 of 2.02.2015 “On the implementation of the Decision of Council of Ministers No 8 of 14.01.2015 ‘On the protection of vulnerable groups, due to the removal of the two-block tariff of electricity” was issued.
Aiming to rehabilitate the power generation and distribution system, the Council of Ministers approved its Decision No 171 of 25.02.2015 “On the approval of the Power Sector Financial Recovery Plan”. The Plan provides a detailed analysis of the financial situation in the power sector. The Financial Recovery Plan aims to close the financial gap that the power sector generates every year, within the next 5 years and transforming the system from an arrears generating sector to a self- sustained and liquid one. The implementation of this Plan will be supported by a loan from International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, worth 112,100,000 Euro. The loan and its terms were ratified by the Albanian Parliament with its Law No 170/2014 of 11.12.2014 “On the Ratification of the Loan Agreement between the Republic of Albania and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the financing of the Albania Power Recovery Project”.
The rehabilitation of the electricity sector and the increase of bill collection will continue to be supported by the Task Force for the improvement of bill collection rate and lowering of losses in the power distribution network. To this end, the Council of Ministers approved its Decision No 718 of 30.10.2014 “On some addenda and amendments to Decision of Council of Ministers No 1086 of 14.12.2013 “On the set up of the Task-Force for the improvement of the bill collection rate and lowering of losses in the power distribution network”. The Decision stipulates the set up of the Special Operational Unit of the Task Force. The Unit is operational with 50 employees and reports directly to the Task Force and the Minister of Energy and Industry. The Unit is responsible to check if the consumers are supplied according to legal and technical rules, check power meters and other technical equipment, bill payment, switch off illegal consumers and report to the police and prosecutor’s office any breach of law.
Activity of the Task-Force, bill collection rate and level of losses for 2014 are described in detail in the Albanian input to the Sixth Subcommittee on Transport, Energy, Environment and Regional Development, held in Tirana on 19 March 2015.
Data on January – March 2015 are presented in the tables below.
Table: Bill collection, January – March 2015 (Compared to January – March 2013 and 2014)

In billion ALL




January

February

March

2013

2.67

3.2

3.6

2014

3.89

3.7

3.9

2015

6.11

7.3

6.2

Source: Ministry of Energy and Industry
Table: Losses, January – March 2015 (compared to January – March 2013 and 2014)

In %




January

February

March

2013

51.10

48.71

48.29

2014

47

42.14

42.78

2015

36.70

31.82

32.90

Source: Ministry of Energy and Industry
Aiming to provide to the Albanian Power Corporation (KESH) S.A. the necessary funding to increase production and maintain security of supply, the Council of Ministers adopted its Decision No 552 of 27.08.2014 “On the approval of the government guarantee issued to Raiffeisen Bank Albania, for the credit contract signed between this Bank and KESH S.A.”, as amended by Decision of Council of Ministers No 685 of 16.10.2014 “On an amendment to Decision of Council of Ministers No 552 of 27.08.2014 “On the approval of the government guarantee issued to Raiffeisen Bank Albania, for the credit contract signed between this Bank and KESH S.A.” providing a government guarantee for a 35 million Euro loan from Raiffeisen Bank Albania to KESH. The Council of Ministers with its Decision No 46 of 21.01.2015 “On the approval of the government guarantee issued to Raiffeisen Bank S.A., Albania, under the existing credit, between this Bank and KESH S.A. for 33,000,000 Euro”, extended the government guarantee until 31.07.2015.
For the regulation of the electricity market in Albania, the following legal acts were approved:

  • Decision of Council of Ministers No 125 of 11.02.2015 “On the approval of the methodology for deciding the fixed electricity tariff, for the year 2015, that is going to be paid to electricity producers through hydropower plants”. According to this Decision, the tariff that KESH will pay to private electricity producers will be calculated based on the average electricity price of Hungarian Power Exchange (HUPX);

  • Decision of the Albanian Power Regulator (ERE) No 27 of 16.02.2015 “On the approval of the fixed electricity tariff, for the year 2015, that is going to be paid to electricity producers through hydropower plants”. ERE, based on the abovementioned Decision of Council of Ministers, decided that the fixed electricity tariff will be 7.636 ALL/kWh;

  • Decision of the Albanian Power Regulator (ERE) No 130 of 3.12.2014 “On the procedures for the purchase of electricity to cover losses in the distribution system by the Distribution System Operator S.A., (OSSHE sh.a.)”;

  • Decision of the Albanian Power Regulator (ERE) No 139 of 26.12.2014 “On deciding the tariff of electricity generated by KESH S.A. for the year 2015”;

  • Decision of the Albanian Power Regulator (ERE) No 140 of 26.12.2014 “On deciding the electricity tariff for the wholesale public supplier for the year 2015”.

  • Decision of the Albanian Power Regulator No 143 of 26.12.2014 “On the revision of the unique price for the sale of electricity from the licensed entities to generate electricity from the existing hydropower plants with an installed capacity up to 15 MW, for the years 2013 and 2014”;

  • Decision of the Albanian Power Regulator (ERE) No 144 of 26.12.2014 “On the revision of the unique price for the sale of electricity from the licensed entities to generate electricity from the new hydropower plants with installed capacity up to 15 MW for the years 2013 and 2014”;

  • Decision of the Albanian Power Regulator (ERE) No 145 of 26.12.2014 “On deciding the transmission tariff of electricity from OST S.A. for the year 2015”;

  • Decision of the Albanian Power Regulator No 146 of 26.12.2014 “On deciding the service tariff for the distribution of the electricity for the year 2015 in the 35 kV network”;

  • Decision of the Albanian Power Regulator No 147 of 26.12.2014 “On deciding the average tariff for the distribution service of electricity for the year 2015”;

  • Decision of the Albanian Power Regulator (ERE) No 1 of 2.02.2015 “On the approval of the agreement between KESH S.A. and OST S.A. on the sale of electricity to cover the technical losses in the transmission system, for the year 2015”.

Concerning Devoll Hidropower, the following legal acts were adopted:



  • Law No 7/2015 of 12.02.2015 “On an amendment and addenda to the Law No 10083 of 23.02.2009 “On the approval of the concessionary contract between the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy as the contracting authority and EVN AG, Statkraft AS and Devoll Hidropower, S.A., as joint concessionaries for designing, financing, construction, ownership, use, maintenance and transfer of the hydropower plant project on the Devolli river, in the Republic of Albania” as amended”. The amendments regulate the construction of the necessary road infrastructure and the compensation that is going to be paid for that to the concessionaries.

  • Decision of the Albanian Power Regulator No 35 of 4.03.2015 “On licensing the “Devoll Hidropower” S.A. in the activity of electricity trade”;

  • Decision of the Albanian Power Regulator (ERE) No 36 of 4.03.2015 “On licensing “Devoll Hidropower” S.A. in the activity of the qualified supplier of electricity”.

The draft Gas Law is prepared. The draft Gas law aims to fully approximate the Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas and repealing Directive 2003/55/EC and Regulation (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1775/2005, and partially approximate the Council Directive 2004/67/EC of 26 April 2004 concerning measures to safeguard security of natural gas supply. The draft Gas Law is scheduled to be adopted by the Albanian Parliament in the first half of 2015.


In the gas sector, the following legal acts were approved:

  • Decision of Council of Ministers No 104 of 4.02.2015 “On the approval of technical rules and safety criteria, second part, on the minimal requirements for the technical designing, construction and operation of systems for the transportation and distribution of natural gas, LNG installations, storing spaces and direct lines”;

  • Decision of the Albanian Power Regulator (ERE) No 26 of 11.02.2015 “On the approval of the application fee for licence in the natural gas sector”.

The administrative capacities in the Albanian Gas Sector will be strengthened due to the implementation of the project “Capacity Building Project for Large Gas Infrastructure Developments in Albania with the Private Sector”. The project is financed with 6.6 million Euro by a grant of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and is ready to start to be implemented for a four-year period. The Agreement between Albania and the Swiss Federation on this project was approved in principle by the Council of Ministers with its Decision No 170 of 26.02.2015 and signed on 18.03.2015.


The project will assist the Ministry of Energy and Industry with advisory services to enable use of potential opportunities to increase energy security by diversifying energy mix and energy sources; will assist in the increase of institutional capabilities and expertise to implement and enforce environmental, technical and social safeguards alongside the construction of large gas infrastructure developments; will assist to ensure capability through an appropriate institutional and regulatory framework to make the best use of additional public resources generated by large gas infrastructure projects; and will assist to increase negotiating and commercial capacities, as well. The project is expected to assist the Albanian public institutions to address the recommendations of the 2014 TAIEX peer review on legislative framework and administrative capacity in the Albanian gas sector.

15.3 Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources


The draft Law on Energy Efficiency was prepared in 2014 in collaboration with the Energy Community Secretariat, aiming to approximate Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on energy efficiency, amending Directives 2009/125/EC and 2010/30/EU and repealing Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC. The draft Law on Energy Efficiency provides for a national objective of energy efficiency, the Energy Efficiency Action Plan (EEAP) and its monitoring, where the public sector will play the primary role, and lays down the set up of Energy Efficiency Fund, establishment of energy savings companies (ESCO’s), Agency responsible for Energy Efficiency, certification of energy auditors, methodology and measurement principles, etc.
The Article 7 Energy efficiency obligation schemes of the Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on energy efficiency, amending Directives 2009/125/EC and 2010/30/EU and repealing Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC, will be further detailed and elaborated in the 2nd National Plan for energy efficiency. The preparation and adoption of the 2nd National Plan for energy efficiency is pending the adoption of the Law on Energy Efficiency.
A draft Decision of Council of Ministers is prepared for the implementation of the draft Law on Energy Efficiency setting rules on energy audits and promoting the market for energy services. The draft provides additional institutional and capacity strengthening for setting up the Energy Efficiency Fund and the agency responsible.
The draft Law on the Energy Performance in Buildings was prepared in 2014, aiming to fully approximate the Directive 2010/31/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 May 2010 on the energy performance of buildings, updating the current level of Thermal Energy Conservation in Buildings and providing the legal basis for the establishment of implementing regulations and measures required for storing thermal energy in buildings.
Upon the Order of Minister of Energy and Industry No 106/2014 a working group was set up to prepare the amendments to Law No 138/2013 of 2.05.2013 “On Renewable Energy Sources”.
15.4 Nuclear safety and radiation protection
In the field of radiation protection, the following legal acts were approved:

  • Decision of Council of Ministers No 843 of 3.12.2014 “On the approval of the Regulation ‘On the protection of workers from risks related to non-ionising radiation in the work place”, which fully approximates the Directive 2013/35/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (electromagnetic fields) (20th individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) and repealing Directive 2004/40/EC;

  • Decision of Radiation Protection Commission No 6097/3 of 24.10.2014 “Guideline on “Passive method for determining the indoor concentration of radon”;

  • Decision of Radiation Protection Commission No 6097/5 of 24.10.2014 “Guideline on “Methodologies on express control of the goods for radioactive contamination”;

  • Decision of Radiation Protection Commission No 6097/6 of 24.10.2014 on “Methodology on assessment of the distribution of electromagnetic radiation and definition of critical area of a cellular antenna of a base station, when nearby are located the base stations of other operators”;

  • Decision of Radiation Protection Commission No 6097/7 of 24.10.2014 “Procedures, explanatory template and assessment of application to receive the approval act for activities with sources of non-ionising radiation. Confirmation template”, laying down the rules for the examination of applications to carry out activities with non-ionising sources, implementing Decision of Council of Ministers No 743 of 16.10.2012 “On the approval of the Regulation on the protection of the public from non-ionising radiation”;

  • Decision of Radiation Protection Commission No 1579/2 of 27.03.2015 “On the adoption of the format of approval for transport/transfer and transit of radioactive sources”.

CHAPTER 16: TAXATION


Key achievements

The Ministry of Finance and the General Tax Directorate have continued their work on the approximation of Albanian legislation with EU acquis. The aim of the activities was to improve tax procedures and to reduce administrative costs for the taxpayers. Furthermore, increased administrative cooperation, mutual assistance and the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion as well as corruption may be reported.

Starting from January 1, 2015, the Albanian Tax Administration has replaced the existing information system with a new more modern system, which is both more advanced and easier to use.. The new module of electronic filing (e-filing) is a very important integral part of this system.
16.1 Tax policy


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