Athens, 30 November 2021 (MIA) – Electricity prices might drop as of mid-April 2022, but the reduction would be in relation to the current, rising prices, not to last year’s prices, Marko Bislimoski, head of North Macedonia’s Regulatory Energy Commission (REC) has told MIA. On Tuesday, Bislimoski was re-elected president of the Energy Community Regulatory Board (ECRB) at its 50^th meeting taking place in Athens. Speaking to MIA’s Athens correspondent, Bislimoski said he is pleased that the Regulatory Energy Commission for the second time in a row has a president who will be chairing the ECRB, calling it a recognition of North Macedonia’s institution. He also mentioned that the REC recently was named observer at the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). “In fact, the Regulatory Energy Commission is standing next to all EU regulatory bodies,” he said adding that only two regulatory bodies from the region, that of North Macedonia and Montenegro, have a status as observer at ACER. In addition to electing president, the Athens meeting also focused on the current energy crisis, a key issue for the new Energy Community Regulatory Board. “At the meeting, we’ve been focusing on the energy crisis, which is to a large extent a price crisis while some countries are already facing a crisis regarding the supply of both electricity and natural gas. European Commission officials were also attending in addition to representatives of the regulatory bodies from the region as well as ACER official that have been sharing their experiences and their recommendations issued to all member countries. Most of these recommendations are already being implemented in our country, including VAT reduction, assistance for consumers from vulnerable categories, etc,” said Bislimoski. Speaking to MIA, the REC head unveiled the scenarios for the end of the energy crisis. “Our European Commission friends said that no one in Europe is predicting when the energy crisis will end, because all predictions beforehand have failed. There is a belief that prices might drop starting from the second half of April next year. But, we should all be aware that the prices will drop compared to the current prices, compared to the drastic price hike,” explained Bislimovski. Compared to 2020, he added, it means prices at least twice as high as the prices in the first half of 2021. “Instead of EUR 220-230, it’s a decrease in prices to EUR 110-120. However, what we call decrease of EUR 110-120 megawatt hours is in fact increase compared to last year, two-fold increase unfortunately. I believe we will have the chance to listen to the experiences from other countries, including the role of the governments to stabilize the situation in the energy sector,” said Bislimoski. The ECRB after the Athens meeting, he stated, will issue joint conclusions, “based mainly on solidarity and mutual support”, in which governments might be urged to engaged to alleviate the energy crisis. “We cannot be isolated and say there will be no changes in times when the expenses have risen drastically, but we will urge all stakeholders in the energy sector to demonstrate solidarity and the governments to be engaged too in the Energy Community member countries to lessen this energy crisis,” Bislimoski told MIA. Analyzing the situation in the region, he said countries that import electricity and natural gas are particularly affected, including North Macedonia, Moldova, Kosovo and partly Montenegro, because they had to increase prices. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bislimovski said, the situation is more relaxed because the country exports electricity while Ukraine is facing instability as it is addressing issues with national coal production. According to the REC head, the situation is neutral in Serbia because the country mainly produces electricity, but needs to import some quantity during winter. Before being re-elected for a second two-year term, Bislimovski was elected ECRB president in 2019. In addition to North Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine and Albania are also members of the Energy Community.