Three companies owned by the state-owned Electric Power Company of Serbia (EPS), whose headquarters are registered in Kosovo, owe more than half a billion euros.
Thermal Power Plants Kosovo, Surface Mines Kosovo and Elektrokosmet are among the 100 biggest losers in Serbia - according to publicly available financial reports in the Serbian Business Register, which were analyzed by Radio Free Europe (RSE).
These companies, with fictitious addresses in Kosovo, continue to operate 25 years after Serbia lost control over the assets and operations of the Kosovo electricity system.
Electricity production is in the hands of Kosovo companies, and three Serbian companies, with more than 3.100 employees, operate from Belgrade.
And they are piling up debts, according to data from the Serbian Business Registers Agency (APR), according to which the total deficit of these three public companies is more than 580 million euros.
What are they doing, since they don't work in Kosovo?
These three companies are non-existent for Pristina, because they are not recognized by Kosovo laws.
But Serbia, which disputes Kosovo's independence, still considers itself the owner of Kosovo's power plants.
Property disputes, as well as other issues burdening relations between Serbia and Kosovo, are the subject of a dialogue conducted under the auspices of the European Union.
However, the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina has been at a standstill in recent years. And the energy agreement reached is not being fully implemented.
Meanwhile, publicly available financial reports analyzed by RFE/RL show that three companies - Thermal Power Plants of Kosovo, Surface Mines of Kosovo and Elektrokosmet - are actually providing services to the Serbian Electric Power Company.
Thus, their workers are mainly engaged in various auxiliary jobs within the EPS system: from the overhaul and maintenance of power plants to meter reading in Serbia.
Their financial reports state that they employ workers who were "expelled from their jobs" after the 1999 war, and the companies were "prevented" from carrying out their activities in the Kosovo electricity industry.
Despite having accumulated losses, these three companies with fictitious addresses in Kosovo are issuing tenders and awarding jobs to various private and state-owned companies across Serbia.
In 2025 alone, they concluded more than 80 contracts and agreements worth more than five million euros - RFE/RL determined, analyzing official data from the public procurement portal.
For the needs of these companies, cars, trucks, buses, fuel, machines, tools, and various construction equipment and materials were purchased, for example.
The money also went to mobile phones and computer equipment.
EPS and its three subsidiaries with addresses in Kosovo did not respond to RFE/RL's questions about their operations.
The question of the procurement of various goods and services also remained unanswered, given that companies are not performing their core business – the production and distribution of electricity.
In many of these tenders, the jobs were won by companies that had no competition – because they were the only ones submitting bids.
"As soon as there is no competition on the demand side, it raises suspicions of corruption," says Petar Đukić, a retired professor at the Belgrade Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy.
By the time the article was published, there had been no response from the Serbian Government or the Ministry of Energy - what the plan is for EPS's companies in Kosovo.
"Pure cost"
Thermal Power Plants of Kosovo, Surface Mines of Kosovo and Elektrokosmet are financially completely dependent on the parent company, Elektroprivreda.
And they are not the only ones, because EPS owns several other subsidiaries in Serbia.
"The EPS is hanging around the neck of unproductive companies and money is being wasted from that system," points out Professor Petar Đukić.
EPS transfers money to companies with fictitious headquarters in Kosovo for employee salaries and other necessary expenses so that they can operate.
"They are not formally employed by EPS, but they receive EPS revenues," adds Professor Đukić.
According to data from the 2024 financial report of Elektroprivreda, more than 54,7 million euros were spent on salaries of employees in companies from Kosovo.
And the cost of salaries is not the only money they are paid.
EPS also pays them for ancillary services within the Serbian power system, in which these three companies are engaged.
"EPS offers them jobs that they could probably do themselves," Đukić points out.
The Fiscal Council of Serbia, an independent state body that analyzes public revenues and expenditures, describes the transfers to these companies as "pure cost."
"Therefore, the aforementioned payments should be excluded from EPS's balance sheet, since they do not represent operating costs of the company itself, but rather a type of social assistance," the Fiscal Council concluded in its 2022 report.
It is also not known whether all 3.100 employees in these companies are engaged on a daily basis.
What do (not) the Kosovo Thermal Power Plants do?
Thermal power plants in Kosovo are registered in the Serbian system for electricity production, although they do not have control over Kosovo's thermal power plants.
This company has more than 770 employees who, as stated in the financial reports, are engaged in repair and maintenance for EPS sectors.
The employees of the Thermal Power Plants also include 88 workers from public companies from Kosovo, established in the parallel Serbian system, which official Pristina considers illegal.
What exactly they do and where they are employed, the company does not answer for RFE/RL.
EPS is the sole financier of Termoelektrane Kosovo – it paid them 13,7 million euros for salaries and other necessary expenses, while around 2,5 million euros were paid for the services the company provides for the Serbian power sector.
Thermal power plants in Kosovo, however, have been operating in the red for years.
They justify their business losses, among other things, by debts for foreign loans that arose before 1999 and the inability to dispose of property in Kosovo.
The loss of the Kosovo Thermal Power Plant at the end of 2024 amounted to more than 355 million euros and they were the tenth largest losers in Serbia.
At the same time, during 2025, this company concluded 50 agreements and contracts with private and state-owned companies in Serbia, worth more than 970 thousand euros.
They purchased various materials and tools, paid for professional training and medical examinations for workers, and paid for equipment maintenance.
Money was also allocated for the purchase of trucks, buses and cars, as well as for vehicle servicing.
The most valuable contract, worth more than 180 thousand euros, was awarded to a private company responsible for the procurement of protective clothing and equipment. It had no competitors, as it was the only one to apply for the tender.
Among the signed agreements was one with the state-owned Telekom Srbija, for two years of mobile telephony services, worth more than 57 thousand euros. Telekom was the only bidder.
Thermal Power Plants of Kosovo did not respond to RFE/RL's questions about their operations and the tenders they are announcing.
What do (not) the Kosovo Open Pits do?
The exploitation of lignite and brown coal is registered as an activity of the company Surface Mines of Kosovo, although it has not had control over the mines of Kosovo for more than 25 years.
The company today, according to its financial report, has more than 1.900 employees.
As stated, a large number of them perform service jobs in EPS companies - for example, they repair and maintain thermal energy facilities and read meters.
EPS transferred more than 50 million euros to this company in 2024 – 41,7 million euros for employee salaries and company operating costs.
For the jobs for which EPS hired this company, an additional 8,4 million euros were transferred.
At the end of 2024, Open Pit Mining Kosovo recorded a positive result, with a profit of 1,4 million euros.
But, in addition to positive business, the account has accumulated losses from previous years.
Thus, the Kosovo Open Pit Mines found themselves in 49th place among the biggest losers in Serbia, with more than 111 million euros in debt.
They justify the debt by arrears for foreign loans taken before 1999, as well as by the fact that the company does not have any assets in Kosovo.
Arrears do not prevent them from doing business in Serbia.
The public procurement portal contains 23 contracts and agreements that Opencast Mining Kosovo concluded with state and private companies during 2025.
The jobs are worth more than three million euros.
The company procured, through tenders, construction materials, work clothes and protective equipment, as well as computers and a system for digitizing archives.
According to the contracts, the vehicle fleet is also being renewed, so the procurement of vans, trucks and cars was awarded to the same private company that was the only one to apply for the tender.
The most valuable job went to the Oil Industry of Serbia.
She is responsible for the procurement of fuel worth over 1,5 million euros.
She was the only one who applied for this competition.
Open-pit mines in Kosovo did not respond to RFE/RL's questions about their operations and the tenders they are announcing.
What does Elektrokosmet (not) do?
"A reliable partner and cornerstone in the supply and distribution of electricity in the northern part of Kosovo" - is the description from the official website of EPS's company Elektrokosmet.
However, it has not been doing this in Kosovo for a long time.
According to data from the company's financial reports, it supplied electricity to Serb-majority municipalities in northern Kosovo until December 2020.
Kosovo authorities considered this illegal, because Elektrokosmet did not have their operating license.
In recent years, the company Elektrosever has taken over the delivery and billing of electricity in northern municipalities.
It is owned by the Serbian Electric Power Company, but is registered in the Kosovo system and under Kosovo laws – which is one of the provisions of the Belgrade-Pristina energy agreement.
In early 2024, Elektrosever began sending the first electricity bills to consumers in four municipalities – North Mitrovica, Leposavić, Zvečan, and Zubin Potok.
Until then, residents of these municipalities had not paid for electricity for 25 years.
Why Elektrokosmet continues to exist in the Serbian system and calls for tenders - even though the company itself admits that it has no control over electricity capacities in Kosovo - was not answered for RFE/RL by the time the article was published.
Millions in deficit on Elektrokosmet's account
As Elektrokosmet states in its latest financial report for 2024, the majority of its revenue is generated by providing services to branches of the Serbian Electric Power Company.
They have 441 employees.
Their workers, as they claim in the report, were engaged in meter reading in Belgrade and Niš, monitoring metering stations, at EPS counters, and in other auxiliary tasks.
But, year after year, Elektrokosmet records negative balances.
The financial report for 2024 shows that at the end of the year the company had a loss of 12,4 million euros.
The total deficit on Elektrokosmet's account is much larger – 115,5 million euros, due to accumulated multi-year debts.
In its 2024 financial report, Elektrokosmet justifies its debts with reasons of a "political nature" and a "large percentage of commercial and technical losses."
More than a million euros for Elektrokosmet tenders
Although it is making a loss and is not performing the tasks for which it was founded, Elektrokosmet continues to procure equipment and pay for services to various companies in Serbia through tenders.
According to publicly available data from the public procurement portal, Elektrokosmet contracted jobs worth more than one million euros in 2025.
The most valuable deal he signed was with the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) - a two-year agreement on the supply of fuel for official vehicles, worth almost 770 thousand euros.
NIS was the only one to respond to this tender.
During 2025, Elektrokosmet also concluded two-year agreements with several private companies on vehicle maintenance and servicing, worth around 350 thousand euros.
The four companies that won these jobs were the only ones that responded to the tender.
More registered branches of Elektrokosmet in Kosovo
In addition to Belgrade, Elektrokosmet has registered eight more branches in Kosovo in the Serbian commercial register.
The branch in Mitrovica is registered at the address Filipa Višnjića bb, where the headquarters of the Elektrosever company are located in the Kosovo system.
Two branches were registered in Pristina, and one each in Gjakova, Prizren, Gjilan, Peja and Ferizaj.
However, there are no branches of Serbian state-owned companies in these cities.
Most public enterprises and institutions operating in the parallel Serbian system, which Pristina considers illegal, have been closed in Kosovo and relocated to Serbia.
Kosovo addresses of EPS companies "only on paper"
According to data from the Serbian Business Registry, the headquarters of two EPS companies - Surface Mines Kosovo and Thermal Power Plants Kosovo - are located within the power complex in Obilić, near Pristina.
These locations are now home to the facilities of the Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEK) – thermal power plants and open-pit coal mines.
And these two EPS companies are actually located at addresses in Belgrade.
The headquarters of the Kosovo Thermal Power Plant are in the center of Belgrade, on Obilićev venac, while the headquarters of the Surface Mines are in the Belgrade neighborhood of Čukarica.
A third EPS company, Elektrokosmet, is reportedly headquartered in Pristina.
It was registered at the address of Kralja Petar I Oslobodioca – a street that no longer exists under that name, as it now bears the name of former US President Bill Clinton.
Today, it is home to the Kosovo Electricity Distribution Company (KEDS).
And the Belgrade headquarters of Elektrokosmet is registered on Archibald Rajsa Street, in the Čukarica neighborhood.
New employment
Although the goal is to reduce the number of employees, all three EPSs from Kosovo gained new permanent employees in 2024 – ten each in Površinski kopovi and Termoelektrane and 18 in Elektrokosmet, financial reports show.
"This is being done for populist reasons. You keep these people as employees of one large system. EPS is a huge reservoir of votes for every government, including this one," points out Professor Petar Đukić.
The opposition Movement for Change has listed Thermal Power Plants and Surface Mines of Kosovo among public enterprises for which they claim that employees have reported suffering threats, pressure, and blackmail from their managers.
As stated, they were asked, under threat of dismissal, to attend rallies of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), while President Aleksandar Vučić has been facing massive anti-government protests over the past year.
RFE/RL was unable to independently confirm these claims, and the Serbian Progressive Party had not responded to these accusations by the time the article was published.
Calls for EPS reform
Although, as the largest state-owned company and energy giant, EPS records millions in revenue from the production and sale of electricity, it is also the company with the largest deficit.
According to data from the Business Registers Agency, EPS was the most successful company in Serbia in 2024, with revenues exceeding 200 million euros. However, accumulated losses from previous years, amounting to 2,4 billion euros, placed it in first place among the biggest losers.
The International Monetary Fund also requested the authorities in Belgrade to reform EPS in order to reduce losses.
In its 2024 business report, EPS states that a reform is underway, which is being implemented in cooperation with international consultants and domestic expert teams.
The goal, they claim, is to improve efficiency and increase transparency in business.
EPS did not answer Radio Free Europe whether and how companies with registered offices in Kosovo are also being reformed.
Where are the fictitious headquarters of the Serbian Electric Power Company in Kosovo?
Although it lost control over Kosovo's electricity facilities in 1999, the Serbian Electric Power Company has three companies registered in the Serbian system for the production and supply of electricity in Kosovo. These companies do not exist in the Kosovo system. Today, their alleged addresses are occupied by plants and facilities of Kosovo's state-owned electricity companies, and streets have also changed their names since 1999.
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