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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000216 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL, INL, EUR/SCE 
NSC FOR HELGERSON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL EAID KV UNMIK
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: PROGRESS ON ELECTRICITY FOR SERB 
ENCLAVES,CONTINUED FRICTION OVER GOS VISITS TO KOSOVO 
 
REF: PRISTINA 146 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Tina S. Kaidanow for Reasons 1.4 (b), (d). 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY.  We have seen significant progress towards 
reaching a comprehensive solution to the problem of Kosovo 
Serbs and the electricity supply.  As of June 2, thanks to 
sustained effort by the Embassy and USAID Kosovo, every 
Kosovo Serb village south of the Ibar river - with the 
exception of the larger enclaves of Gracanica and Strpce - 
had signed agreements with the Kosovo Energy Corporation 
(KEK) to regularize their consumer relationships, pay their 
electric bills, and receive better service in return.  KEK 
and USAID Kosovo representatives continue to discuss the 
issue with the Serbian Ministry for Kosovo (MOK) and Serbian 
electrical utility EPS, with an eye towards finding a way to 
implement "community billing" in Gracanica, Strpce, and 
Serb-majority northern Kosovo.  We are told that the Serbian 
government is finalizing a proposal by which a commercial 
entity registered in Kosovo would provide billing, repair, 
and other services (but not large-scale distribution and/or 
production of electricity) in larger Serb-majority areas. 
 
¶2.  (C) (Summary, cont'd) The absence of politicization has 
been one of the key factors enabling progress on electricity. 
 This stands in marked contrast to the problems surrounding 
the question of high-level, official GoS visits to Kosovo, 
which have inflamed tensions and could -- if further 
escalation occurs -- cause the GOK to take countermeasures 
against even low-level Serbian officials operating in Kosovo 
who are our primary interlocutors on the electricity issue 
and other practical questions.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Villages Covered, Larger Enclaves Next 
 
¶3.  (C) As of June 2, all the Kosovo Serb villages south of 
the Ibar river - with the exception of the larger enclaves of 
Gracanica and Strpce - had regularized customer relationships 
(and billing) with KEK.  As reported reftel, so long as each 
area continues to pay every month for 12 months, any issues 
connected to past unpaid debt will effectively be frozen. 
Given the large size of Gracanica, Strpce, and Serb-majority 
northern Kosovo, the GoS officials who have engaged KEK and 
PA Consulting (the USAID contractor which provides management 
assistance to KEK) on this issue have insisted that a 
"community billing" program be implemented in these areas. 
The basic concern (which we share) has been that Serbs living 
in these places would resist interacting with KEK, and more 
specifically that Serb hardliners could threaten KEK 
employees or otherwise cause trouble.  The community billing 
plan would entail Serbian utility EPS working with an 
energy-trading firm in Kosovo and, in effect, subcontracting 
some EPS employees in Kosovo to a new commercial entity which 
would provide billing, repair, and other electrical services 
in the larger enclaves. 
 
¶4.  (C) On June 2, GOS Assistant Minister for Kosovo Dragan 
Petkovic told us that the GOS had formed a working group 
which included members of the MOK, the Serbian Ministries of 
Energy and Finance, and other actors.  Petkovic said that the 
GOS understands that such an entity needs to register in 
Kosovo, pay any fees or taxes required, and operate under 
Kosovo law.  Referring to recent articles in the press, in 
which MOK State Secretary and head of the Coordination Center 
for Kosovo (CCK) Zvonko Stevic had denounced the electricity 
agreement, Petkovic said that "some elements" in Serbia were 
against cooperation, but he claimed they were in the minority 
and lacked the influence to affect the course of events. 
 
Vexing Visits 
 
¶5.  (C) Though a valued interlocutor on the electricity 
issue, Petkovic -- ultimately responsible to MOK Minister 
Bogdanovic -- has complained to us about the Kosovo 
government's visit policy, which has recently prevented high 
level GOS officials, and particularly Bogdanovic himself, 
from entering Kosovo on official visits.  We told Petkovic 
 
PRISTINA 00000216  002 OF 002 
 
 
that continued attempts by the GOS to apply for entry, in 
particular by Bogdanovic, would only lead to more conflict 
with the Kosovo government without any benefit to Kosovo 
Serbs or the international community's efforts to help them. 
Bogdanovic's most recent visits - one to open a Serbian post 
office in Gracanica and one unauthorized official visit to 
northern Kosovo during which he met with Serb demonstrators 
in the conflict-ridden area of Brdjani/Kroi i Vitakut, not to 
mention his travel to Mitrovica on Kosovo's first 
independence anniversary - have had a sovereignty-asserting 
flavor that makes him anathema to the Kosovo government. 
 
¶6.  (C) We advised Petkovic that unannounced, informal visits 
by lower ranking GOS officials could help the GoS deliver 
assistance to Kosovo Serbs and check hardline impulses within 
the Serb community without drawing media attention or 
irritating Kosovo authorities.  Otherwise, we cautioned, the 
GOK might begin to clamp down on lower-level Serbian 
functionaries operating in Kosovo; Petkovic himself - who is 
from Kosovo and lives here - was recently refused entry given 
his association with the MOK, and was only allowed through 
after U.S. Embassy intercession. 
 
COMMENT: Pushing Ahead 
 
¶7.  (C) We are guardedly optimistic about the prospects of a 
long-term comprehensive solution to the electricity problem. 
To the extent that EPS and the GOS can accept certain 
realities about electricity in Kosovo - most importantly the 
need to register in Pristina - chances are good that all the 
Serbs south of the Ibar will become paying customers by the 
end of the summer.  We will continue to work with all sides 
to bring this issue to a successful conclusion.  This will 
not only improve the daily lives of Kosovo Serbs, but allow 
greater interaction -- and perhaps greater understanding -- 
between the Serb community here and the Kosovo authorities. 
 
 
¶8.  (C) The absence of politicization has been one of the key 
factors enabling progress on electricity.  This stands in 
marked contrast to the problems surrounding the visits 
policy.  In our view, continued efforts to compel the GOK to 
allow high-level GoS visitors to enter Kosovo will only prove 
counterproductive and will likely lead to more travel 
restrictions on a broader group of GoS actors, some of whom 
have been useful interlocutors. 
KAIDANOW