TIRANA, June 9 – About 115,000 Albanian households continue paying monthly instalments of about 2,500 lek (€18) as part of their accumulated unpaid debts since late 2014 when a nationwide campaign was launched to tackle massive power thefts and accumulated unpaid bills, according to OSHEE distribution operator. The number corresponds to about 16 percent of the country’s resident households, but marks a considerable reduction compared to a total of 429,000 debtor households who signed deals to pay in instalments with state-run OSHEE distribution operator. Another 215,000 debtor household consumers benefitted up to 80 percent discounts on the late payment penalties through their lump sum payments.
The OSHEE distribution operator says some 18,400 debtor businesses have also signed deals to pay their electricity debts in instalments.
The country’s central bank has warned the payment of accumulated unpaid electricity bills has also affected domestic consumption and will probably have a negative impact in the next few years on debtor households some of whom will need up to 10 years to pay off their accumulated debts.
More than a year after the launch of an aggressive nationwide campaign to curb electricity thefts and collect accumulated unpaid bills, the country’s state-run power distribution operator is back to profitable after a failed three and a half year privatization which ended in early 2013.
Distribution operator, OSHEE, said the company registered profits of about 14.9 billion lek (€106 mln) in 2015 following losses of 4.5 billion lek (€32 mln) in 2014 and a record high of 27 billion lek (€192 mln) in 2013 when the company was taken back under state administration following a failed privatization by Czech Republic’s CEZ.
However, more than one year after the launch of the nationwide campaign, grid losses although having considerably reduced remain high at about 31.3 percent.
Last year also registered a significant increase in those sentenced for electricity thefts following a nationwide campaign launched in late 2014 and legal changes which made power thefts punishable by up to three years in prison.
The General Prosecutor’s Office says some 2,115 people were sentenced for electricity thefts in 2015 compared to only 561 in 2014.
Prosecutors said two-thirds of the suspected electricity thieves were unemployed and requested imprisonment for only half of the accused.
