March 17 (SeeNews) - The European Union has provided 67.5 million euro ($71.8 million) to Kosovo to help the country cope with the energy crisis, Kosovo's ministry of finance, labour and transfers said on Friday.
This is the first tranche out of the total of 75 million euro in total support that the EU has pledged to provide to Kosovo for the energy crisis, Kosovo's finance ministry said in a press release.
The second tranche in the amount of 7.5 million euro is expected to be disbursed in 2024.
The support from the EU is channeled through the IPA 2023 program for the countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey, a program which this year is dedicated to funding in the field of energy.
Kosovo will use the funds for the implementation of several energy support measures, including the support for families in need, encouraging savings for household consumers and businesses, support for efficient energy transition for apartments and homes and support for the purchase of efficient household appliances.
Kosovo’s harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) advanced 10.5% on the year in February, after increasing by an annual 12.1% in January.
($ = 0.940555 euro)