At the Basic Court in Prishtina, the hearing of the witness Edmond Nulleshi has begun in the case where the former Chief Executive Officer of the Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEK), Nagip Krasniqi, is accused of abuse of official duty.

Witness Edmond Nulleshi testified in his capacity as advisor to the Executive Director of KEK’s Services during 2022 and 2023.

He told the court that his duties included the supervision and management of the units within this division.

“Temporarily, at the request and with the authorization of the operational director and the CEO, for a certain period I also covered the duties of the operational director regarding the management of capacities and the buying and selling of electricity. Because the operational director during this period had additional responsibilities related to coal production, this task was temporarily assigned to me in addition to my other duties,” he said during his testimony.

During the period he was engaged, when asked by Special Prosecutor Dren Paca, the witness explained how the electricity trading process was conducted.

“The trading process was conducted through auctions, and whenever electricity needed to be imported—mainly during periods when a unit had unexpectedly gone offline—trading was carried out through auctions. Invitations were sent to all parties that had signed a general contract, based on the form set by the European Federation of Energy Traders,” he said.

He further testified that at the time he assumed the role, these contracts were already signed, but later he realized that KEK had not requested licensing from the Energy Regulatory Office (ZRRE) to include these parties in the trading process.

“In the meantime, after the licensing issue arose, I understood that from the period when auctions began, KEK did not request licenses from ZRRE to include these parties in the trading process. I also realized that other companies trading in Kosovo, including KESCO and KEDS, which carried out most of the trading in Kosovo, did not request licenses from ZRRE either,” he said.

Edmond Nulleshi said that the legal basis for licensing existed earlier.

“As far as I know, the law cited by ZRRE came into force in 2016, and the trading procedures approved by ZRRE came into force in 2018. Therefore, the legal basis existed even in 2022,” he stated.

During today’s session, he said that “according to the rules, KEK informed ZRRE in writing about the trading processes being conducted.”

He said there were correspondences and communications with ZRRE.

The special prosecutor asked the witness who prepared these interpretations on behalf of KEK, to which he replied that he had requested clarifications from KEK’s tariff office and legal office.

“After I left this position, I was informed that in November 2022 ZRRE had sent a draft monitoring report. This report outlined the violations KEK was committing regarding the parties that it declared to be in breach of the law. Following this report, the CEO formed a working group to review and respond to all points of the report, and I was part of that group,” he emphasized.

The witness discussed the response prepared by KEK’s working group and the actions of the Energy Regulatory Office after receiving KEK’s replies.

“I do not know the details because I was not part of these processes, but from what I have heard, ZRRE responded to KEK’s replies, issued a final report identifying KEK’s violations, and ultimately issued a penalty to KEK based on these findings. However, I do not know the specifics,” he said.

The witness told the court that he has no knowledge of whether KESCO, KEDS, and KOSTT were fined for trading electricity with unlicensed companies.

Special Prosecutor: "Are you aware whether these companies [KESCO, KEDS, KOSTT], when receiving recommendations from ZRRE to stop trading electricity with unlicensed operators, complied with the decision, unlike KEK?

Nulleshi: "I am aware that all these companies stopped trading with HSE, but I do not know the exact timelines or whether they immediately responded to ZRRE’s recommendations,” he said.

After the special prosecutor finished his questioning, the defense for the accused, Nagip Krasniqi, began their questions.

Edmond Nulleshi stated that during his tenure, the Government of Kosovo did not subsidize electricity.

In the case against former KEK CEO Nagip Krasniqi for abuse of official duty, Edmond Nulleshi testified as an advisor to KEK’s Executive Director of Services during 2022 and 2023.

He told the court that his responsibilities included supervising and managing the units of this division.