Smuggled goods enter Kosovo freely from Serbia, through the villages of North Mitrovica since the post-war period. The Government of Kosovo has never succeeded to extend its authority 100% in this area and every time has attempted to do so, it has met resistance from Serb armed groups operating in the north.
In addition to smuggling goods, North Mitrovica has recently become a hotbed of cryptocurrencies mining. Virtual cryptocurrency Bitcoin has been produced in Kosovo for about 5 years, with high concentration in North Mitrovica. This is being done because in this area residents do not pay electricity for 22 years, considering that the charge of producing BTC is very high.
Taking advantage of their undefined status since the end of the war and Kosovo’s declaration of independence in 2008, Serbs in the northern municipalities of Leposavic, Mitrovica, Zubin Potok and Zvecan have not paid a single electricity bill for more than two decades. The energy consumed cost in these municipalities is about 12 million euros per year. The cryptocurrencies production in this area is supposed to consume 32 terawatt hours of electricity per year, almost as much as all of Denmark.
The energy spent on producing this cryptocurrency is leaving residents in the dark, they say that this area is overcrowded with bitcoin(BTC) production technology up to Leposavic, Kosovo’s last village on the border with Serbia.
Illegal use of electricity to generate BTC in Kosovo has so far been a silent but not unknown issue. The fact that Kosovo Government has failed to extend its authority in this area, has created luxury for cryptocurrency producers for years. In the last couple of weeks, cryptocurrency producers have begun to pull their technology to Serbia, fearing for any action to confiscate them.
The Kosovo Government has recently decided to allocate funds in the amount of 15 million euros which will cover the costs of electricity supply in the northern municipalities, consequently legalizing the misuse of electricity in this area.
Cryptocurrency is digital money. It works based on cryptographic algorithms. It has all the characteristics of a real currency, except that the authority of the state does not stand behind them and they exist only in electronic usage. According to the Central Bank of Kosovo, cryptocurrencies are not registered locally, and if any citizen loses their money, no one guarantees their return.
How did the north remain unmanaged by the Kosovo Government?
When the NATO army entered in Kosovo in 1999, the Serbian army was retreating towards Serbia, along with Serb citizens fearing for the Kosovo Albanians retaliate. NATO was facing accusations from Serbs for banning ethnic cleansing of Albanians, while doing nothing to stop abandonment of Kosovo by Serbs. The fleeing Serbs were stationed in Northern Mitrovica near by the border with Serbia, French KFOR has been taking care of their safety ever since.
For 22 years now, the city of Mitrovica has been divided into two ethnicities, the famous bridge over the Ibar River divides the city, the northern part inhabited by Serbs and the southern part inhabited by Albanians. The bridge became a checkpoint was installed by KFOR to prevent interethnic incidents, while the Serbs formed groups called the “Bridge Guards” who set up barricades and from time to time causing incidents to restrict the rule of law in this area.
Keeping in ghetto this area does not suit anyone other than Serbia. Even nowadays, Serbia controls part of the territory in northern Kosovo. In addition to its territorial intentions to North Mitrovica, Serbia is also making good use of this area for smuggling and illegality.
In July 2011 in order to extend sovereignty in territory of the Kosovo, the Government had ordered a police action in North Mitrovica to take control of the border check point, In this action, an armed confrontation took place between the Kosovo Police and the Serbian criminal bands, as a consequence, a Kosovar policeman was killed by Serb snipers.
