KOSMET: una rapina a mano armata ai danni della Jugoslavia
(english / srpskohrvatski / francais / italiano)
1. Les "autorités du Kosovo" ont mis en vente 2 mines, un hôtel, une
usine de cuir et de chaussures et 9 autres firmes qui appartenaient à
l'état (Business Week, 2 août 2005)
2. In inverse chronological order (2005-2004):
- 12 companies put up for privatization in Kosovo
- Fifth round of privatization in Kosovo underway, Serbs excluded -
union official
- US and Germany have business interests in Kosovo's independence,
says Tomasi
- UN resumes Kosovo privatisation
- Privatization of socially owned companies continues in Kosovo
- CCK requests Constitutional Court to assess privatization
- Kosovo in economic crisis
- CCK labels UNMIK decision in continuing privatization as unilateral
- Privatisation in Kosovo-Metohija is opposed to international standards /
# Privatizacija na Kosmetu protivna medjunarodnim standardima
- Continuation of sale of Serbian companies in Kosovo and Metohija
- Madeleine Albright seeks profits in occupied Kosovo: with mobile
telephone provider
3. April 26, 2005: FERRONIKELI plant up for sale
SEE ALSO:
KOSOVO TRUST AGENCY: http://www.kta-kosovo.org
2004: German party wants Kosovo to be "Special Economic Zone"
http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/news/article/1083874908.php
KOSOVO SACKING FAILS TO CLEAR AIR OVER PRIVATISATION
Holkeri's move to remove privatisation boss pleases Kosovo government
but may not inch the stalled process forward. - By Arben Qirezi in
Pristina
IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, No. 494, April 30, 2004
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200404_494_1_eng.txt
JOBLESS KOSOVARS HEAD ABROAD
Five years after heading home in hope of a new life, Kosovar Albanians
are again packing their bags. By Krenare Kurtishi and Mevlyde Salihu
in Pristina
IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, No. 501, June 03, 2004
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200406_501_4_eng.txt
2004: Reuters: UN to Resume Kosovo Privatisation
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=51408
2004: The Challenge of Economic Reform in Kosovo (by Zijadin Gashi)
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/articles/2004/09/20/reportage-01?print=yes
Kosovo Picks Provisional Winners in Fifth Privatisation Wave
http://kosovareport.blogspot.com/2005/07/kosovo-picks-provisional-winners-in.html
Kosovo, European agency draw up plan to 'improve business environment'
http://kosovareport.blogspot.com/2005/07/kosovo-european-agency-draw-up-plan-to.html
"Kosovo has created Institutional frame for economic development"
http://www.mia.com.mk/ang/Vest.asp?vest=\1\Copy%20of%20Tribina%20FORUM.htm
GANGS AND RED TAPE DETER KOSOVO INVESTORS
Physical threats to businessmen and complex bureaucratic procedures
turning Kosovo into black hole. By Arbana Xharra in Pristina
IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, No. 550, April 06, 2005
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200504_550_3_eng.txt
PROCITAJ JOS:
Smena nije donela resenje problema privatizacije na Kosovu.
Holkerijeva odluka da otpusti sefa agencije za privatizaciju
obradovala je Vladu Kosova, ali se moze desiti da ceo proces
tansformacije drzavne imovine pokrajine propadne.
Pise: Arben Cirezi iz Pristine (BCR Br 494, 29-apr-04)
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200404_494_1_ser.txt
Nezaposleni Kosovari odlaze u inostranstvo
Pet godina posto su se vratili kuci nadajuci se boljem zivotu,
kosovski Albanci ponovo pakuju kofere. Pisu: Krenare Kurtisi i Mevlide
Salihu iz Pristine (BCR Br 501, 03-jun-04)
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200406_501_4_ser.txt
A LIRE AUSSI:
Kosovo : un potentiel touristique négligé [SIC]
http://www.balkans.eu.org/article5139.html
=== 1 ===
Business Week, 2 août 2005
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8BN50980.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down&chan=db
Les autorités du Kosovo ont mis en vente ce lundi 1er août 2 mines, un
hôtel, une usine de cuir et de chaussures et 9 autres firmes qui
appartenaient à l'état, espérant ainsi augmenter la productivité dans
cette province plongée dans la dépression économique.
La Kosovo Trust Agency a lancé le 8e round de privatisation,
s'efforçant de vendre les entreprises qui était avant la propriété de
leurs travailleurs et de leurs managers, sous le système mis en place
durant l'ère communiste en Yougoslavie. L'agence de privatisation
espère que 16 nouvelles compagnies seront créées lorsque tout sera vendu.
La privatisation est parmi les sujets les plus sensibles au Kosovo,
province placée sous administration des Nations Unies en 1999, après
les frappes aériennes de l'OTAN qui avaient mis fin a la répression
serbe contre les indépendantistes Albanais.
Les autorités sont impatientes de vendre les biens et les compagnies,
pour ouvrir des opportunités d'investissement et créer de nouveaux
emplois dans cette province appauvrie.
Le processus de privatisation au Kosovo est complexe, en partie parce
qu'on ne sait pas clairement si cette province deviendra indépendante,
ou si elle restera une partie de la Serbie-Monténegro, l'état qui a
succédé à la Yougoslavie. Les autorités serbes se sont férocement
opposé aux privatisations.
La Kosovo Trust Agency, agence des Nations Unies chargée de privatiser
les entreprises et de leur conférer des bases légales solides, désire
que les entrepreneurs privés assument le risque de moderniser les
industries. Ces compagnies sont inefficaces et ont été dilapidée après
des années de négligence.
Plus tôt dans l'année, la mission des Nations Unies avait fixé de
nouvelles règles pour le processus de privatisation. Avec ces
nouvelles règles, l'agence a acquis le droit de vendre et de choisir
les nouveaux propriétaires des compagnies.
L'agence espère que le nouveau pouvoir rassurera les investisseurs
inquiets de ce qu'un changement dans le paysage politique les
spolierait de leurs biens. [Faut-il comprendre qu'ils s'inquiètent que
les travailleurs ne récupèrent les biens dont ils ont été spoliés par
les bombes et l'occupation ?]
SOURCE : http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/alerte_otan/messages
=== 2 ===
IN INVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER:
---
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8BN50980.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down&chan=db
Associated Press - August 1, 2005
12 companies put up for privatization in Kosovo
Pristina - Authorities in Kosovo put two mines, a
hotel, a leather and shoe factory and nine other
state-owned firms up for sale Monday, hoping to boost
productivity in the economically depressed province.
The Kosovo Trust Agency launched the eighth round of
privatization in an effort to sell the enterprises,
which were once owned by their workers and managers
under the system set up during communist-era
Yugoslavia. The privatization agency is hoping 16 new
companies will be created when the sales are complete.
The agency advertised the companies for sale on its
Web site.
Privatization is among the most sensitive issues in
Kosovo, which was placed under U.N. administration in
1999 following NATO air strikes that ended a Serb
crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.
Authorities are eager to sell assets and companies to
open investment opportunities and create new jobs in
the impoverished province.
The process of privatization in Kosovo is complex in
part because it is unclear whether Kosovo will become
independent or remain part of Serbia-Montenegro, the
successor state of Yugoslavia. Serbia's authorities
have fiercely opposed the privatizations.
The Kosovo Trust Agency, the U.N. entity responsible
for privatizing the enterprises and putting them on a
solid legal footing, wants private entrepreneurs to
assume the risk of modernizing the industries. The
companies are inefficient and dilapidated after years
of neglect.
Earlier this year, the U.N. mission set new rules for
the privatization process. With the new rules, the
agency has earned the legal right to sell and
determine the new owners of the companies.
The agency hopes the new powers will avert concerns
from investors concerned that a change in the
political landscape would rob them of their assets.
---
http://www.tanjug.co.yu/Elect.htm#Fifth%20round%20of%20privatization%20in%20Kosovo%20underway,%20Serbs%20excluded%20-%20union%20official
Tanjug (Serbia and Montenegro) - March 23, 2005
Fifth round of privatization in Kosovo underway, Serbs excluded -
union official
BELGRADE - President of the Federation of Independent
Labor Unions of Kosovo-Metohija Boza Milosavljevic
told Tanjug Wednesday that the fifth round of
privatization is underway in Serbia's southern
province, but that Serbs, who had invested much in
provincial companies, as had the state of Serbia, are
now even physically banned from entering company
premises.
In every round, at least 15 companies are sold only to
ethnic Albanians, Milosavljevic said, explaining that
tenders are published only in Albanian-language press
and that information on tenders is made public only in
places to which Serbs have no access.
---
http://www.makfax.com.mk/news1-a.asp?br=93477
MakFax (Macedonia) - January 20, 2005
US and Germany have business interests in Kosovo's independence, says
Tomasi
Belgrade - Italian reporter Umberto Tomasi claims that
everything is ready for a new media-led strike on
Serbs whose main goal is to drive the remaining
Kosovo's Serbs out of the province. He added that
business interests of the United States and Germany
stand behind the idea of independence of Kosovo.
Italian reporter Umberto Tomasi, a co-author of a book
on Kosovo as the Black Hole of Europe, in which he
condemns the unjust demonization of Serbs and the
secret battle to seize "the biggest coal reserves in
Europe" which are located in Kosovo.
According to the war correspondent, who toured Kosovo
and spoke with the local population, Serbs were
deliberately demonized by certain news agencies in
order to set the stage for the secret battle for
seizing the biggest coal reserves in Europe, that are
located in that province.
In an interview with Belgrade's daily Vecernje
Novosti, Tomasi said the opening of 18 graves in
Kosovo will be used by media to make sure that the
entire world be appalled at these graves, where
Albanian victims of 1999 conflict had been buried.
The media will make a big boom, corpses will be
unearthed days ahead, there will be DNA analyses. All
this will pave the way to new attacks, maltreatment
and exile of Kosovor Serbs, Tomasi said.
Besides banishing of Kosovo's Serbs, the media
campaign will have another much bigger and more
important goal i.e. take-over of natural resources in
Kosovo, in particular the lignite.
The estimated lignite reserves in Kosovo are put at 10
billion tons... Lignite is not oil, however, once
China joined the international share of energy
resources, the lignite will become the second
important energy resource next to oil.
---
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?&nav_category=&nav_id=29139&order=priority&style=headlines
Agence France-Presse - July 15, 2004
UN resumes Kosovo privatisation
PRISTINA - Kosovo's UN-run privatisation agency has
presented a third list of publicly owned enterprises
to be offered for sale.
The list includes 13 state-owned enterprises,
according to Nikolaus Lambsdorff, who heads the EU
mission that handles the process.
"I am confident we will see the launch of a fourth
wave this summer," Lambsdorff said.
Around 500 companies are slated for privatisation but
the process had come to a grinding halt owing to
disputes between ethnic Albanian authorities and the
UN administration which has run Kosovo since the end
of the 1998-99 war.
The third round of tenders had previously been
suspended after irregularities were reported in the
process. In April the head of the UN mission sacked
the foreign official overseeing privatisation.
Meanwhile several thousand people gathered here to
protest employment conditions and criticise the
failure of the government and the UN to revive the
economy, which still suffers from the break-up of the
socialist former Yugoslavia.
"There is no reason why five years after the end of
the war we have ended up with such an economy, with
such unemployment, poverty and continued lack of
social support for our workers," Association of
Independent Trade Unions chief Bahri Shabani told the
crowd.
Unemployment stands at about 60 percent in Kosovo.
---
Privatization of socially owned companies continues in Kosovo
(Vecernje Novosti/Tanjug - APIS Belgrade Media Update, 3-5 July 2004)
After eight months of cessation, the privatization process of socially
owned companies in Kosovo will soon continue according to a decision
by UNMIK and the Kosovo government despite the opposing by the Serb
representatives, Tanjug learned. KP AM Rada Trajkovic has told Tanjug
that the state of Serbia must initiate proceedings before the
international court and sue those who had alienated its property. "In
the privatization process, priority must not be who gives more for
certain premises, but there must be a standard where advantage over
the company, which is the subject of privatization would have the
community that is a majority."
---
CCK requests Constitutional Court to assess privatization
(Tanjug / APIS Belgrade Media Update, July 9 2004)
The CCK has sent a letter to the Serbian Constitutional Court, calling
on it
to assess the constitutionality of UNMIK regulations, which served as the
basis for privatization in Serbia's southern province, the coordination
center said in a statement. According to the CCK, under UNMIK's
regulations
on privatization, privatization in Kosovo is being carried out without the
agreement or participation of the Republic of Serbia, which clashes
not only
with the Serbian Constitution, but also with UNSCR 1244 and Constitutional
Framework for provisional self-administration in Kosovo.
---
Kosovo in economic crisis
(RTS / APIS Belgrade Media Update, July 9 2004)
KP caucus whip Dragisa Krstovic has stated that the economic situation in
Kosovo is very difficult and that this reflects the general political
situation. "Re-initiation of the privatization process, that had been
ceased, is not a good move since it will slow down many other
processes that
should be unfolding, while the international community must create
conditions as soon as possible towards improving the economy in this
region," said Krstovic. SNC leader for northern Kosovo Milan Ivanovic has
stated that the ownership status of companies in the province must
first be
resolved in order to prevent the usurping of Serb property. "It is a fact
that the state of Serbia is the owner of many companies in Kosovo, so that
privatization of companies in Kosovo cannot be implemented according to
UNMIK's model," he said. According to him, first, one should create
conditions for the implementation of the Serbian government plan, so we
could receive our institutions that can resolve economic issues, which are
very important.
---
CCK labels UNMIK decision in continuing privatization as unilateral
(Vecernje Novosti - APIS Belgrade Media Update, 3-5 July 2004)
The CCK has assessed as unilateral UNMIK's decision on continuing the
privatization process in Kosovo and announced that it is examining the
use of possible legal means towards "stopping the plundering of the
property of the Serbian state, legal persons outside Kosovo, and
protecting the legal rights of Kosovo non-Albanian citizens,
especially IDPs." The CCK announced that it would launch the issue of
individual legal responsibility, including international courts, all
those who will take part in the privatization process created by UNMIK
deputy head for economic issues in Kosovo, Nikolaus Lambsdorff,
including his individual and personal responsibility.
---
http://www.tanjug.co.yu/
Tanjug - April 23, 2004
Privatisation in Kosovo-Metohija is opposed to international standards
BELGRADE - Privatisation in Kosovo-Metohija, carried
out by the Kosovo Trust Agency (KTA), cannot proceed
in violation of international standards and without
the participation of Serbia as the greatest creditor
and owner of assets in Kosovo-Metohija, the
coordination centre's department for reconstruction
and economic development said in a statement on Friday.
The KTA has recently started publishing lists of only
ethnic Albanian workers at the privatised socially
owned enterprises who have the right to part of
earnings from the sale of these enterprises and this
is an obvious example of discrimination against the
Serbs and other non-Albanians who used to work at
these companies.
Privatizacija na Kosmetu protivna medjunarodnim standardima
23. Aprila 2004., Tanjug
Privatizacija na Kosovu i Metohiji, koju sprovodi Kosovska poverilacka
agencija (KTA), ne može se odvijati protivno medjunarodnim standardima
i bez
ucecšca Srbije kao najveceg poverioca i vlasnika imovine na Kosmetu,
saopštio je danas Sektor Koordinacionog centra za rekonstrukciju i
ekonomski
razvoj.
KTA je nedavno pocela da objavljuje spiskova radnika do sada
privatizovanih
društvenih preduzeca, iskljucivo Albanaca, koji imaju pravo na deo prihoda
od prodaje tih preduzeca, što je ocit primer diskriminacija radnika
srpske i
nealbanske nacionalnosti nekada zaposlenih u tim firmama.
---
http://www.blic.co.yu
Blic (Serbia-Montenegro) - April 13, 2004
Continuation of sale of Serbian companies in Kosovo and Metohija
Pristina - Director of Kosovo Agency for
privatization, Mariu Fuchi tried to dispute suspicious
sales in the province. She also tried to protect the
real value of the companies in tenders. However,
UNMIK's Chief Herri Holkeri prevented her in doing so.
Holkeri made decision about her dismissal.
Oliver Ivanovic, member of Kosovo Parliament
Presidency said that Fuchi was working completely in
line with the regulations being applied in developed
European countries and that she was dismissed although
nobody had any objection to her work.
In spite of provisions of UN SC Resolution 1244 by
which UNMIK only has the right to manage but not to
decide about the property within state, public and
social sector, Kosovo agency caused damage to the
economy of Serbia of several hundreds of millions of
Euros.
---
http://www.tanjug.co.yu/
Tanjug - April 13, 2004
Madeleine Albright once again in Kosovo - fight for mobile telephone
provider
PRISTINA - Former US Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright, or her consultancy firm Albright Group LLC,
has taken over the job of special adviser of the
chairman of the board of managers of the Kosovo
Internet Provider Ipko Net, which will compete for a
new mobile provider in the province.
As it was stated from Ipko Net, the company recently
founded a joint firm, with mixed capital, with the
American Western Wirless International from Seattle,
with which - as it was said - it intended to compete
for a "second mobile operator" in Kosovo.
Albright seeks profits in occupied Kosovo?
Clinton's Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was unversally
acknowledged
as a major advocate of intervention in the Balkans, from her
sponsorship of
the Hague Inquisition to her drive for the bombing of Serbia in 1999.
Now officially retired from politics, Albright has a lucrative
"consultancy"
business. According to a Belgrade-based news agency
<http://www2.inet.co.yu/index.php?date=20040413> Inet (scroll down to the
entry "17:20"), the Albright Group, LLC will "advise" the board of
Ipko Net,
a Kosovo (Albanian) ISP seeking a mobile telephony concession in the
occupied province. Here is the text of the report, translated by Inet:
<http://www.antiwar.com/blog/more.php?id=745_0_1_0_M> More...
Posted by: <mailto:balkan@...> Nebojsa Malic on Apr 13, 04 |
9:21 pm
=== 3 ===
BALKAN UPDATE
NEWS, ANALYSIS AND PROGRESS:: THE LATEST UPDATES FROM THE BALKANS
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Privatization continues in Kosovo with Ferronikeli plant up for sale
"Ferronikeli"is one of the largest nickel smelting and mining
operations in Europe.
By Matthew Robinson
Gllogovce, Kosovo[Kosova](Reuters) - Kosovo's Glogovac ferro-nickel
plant looks like a bomb hit it.
Twenty-eight bombs, in fact, dropped by NATO during its 1999 air war
to expel Serb forces accused of ethnically cleansing the province's
Albanian majority.
Severed pipes hang from the punctured roof, glass litters the floor
and drums that once collected waste from the smelter now lie up-turned
amid the debris like giant church bells.
"Try to make it look good," the mine's ethnic Albanian technical
director says to a visiting camera crew.
Kosovo's United Nations authorities say the damage is purely
superficial and have put "Ferronikeli" up for sale, seven years after
Serbia closed it down and began using it as a military base in its war
on Kosovo's separatist rebels.
Appearances aside, U.N. officials say Ferronikeli and mines like it
represent the future for the impoverished province.
The plant is one of the largest nickel smelting and mining operations
in Europe, with 13 million tonnes of nickel ore in three open-pit
mines valued at around 2 billion euros.
Lured by a potential 100 million euros (68 million pounds) in annual
revenue, four international mining companies including South Korea's
Samsung Corp are expected to submit bids for it on April 27.
It is the most significant privatisation undertaken by the United
Nations since it took control of the Balkan province in 1999. The
buyer is obliged to take on 1,000 workers and invest at least 20
million euros over the first 3 years.
FUTURE IN LIGNITE
Kosovo's U.N. overseers hope the sell-off will breathe life into the
dormant mining industry, laid low by chronic mismanagement and
under-investment in the 1990s.
Kosovo is rich in nickel -- used to produce steel -- and lignite -- a
form of coal used to produce power -- but its mines badly need
investment. The West plans to decide the province's "final status"
later this year, and Kosovo is keen to prove it can become a viable
independent state.
"For the long-term sustainable future of Kosovo, the major industry
will be mining," says Kirk Adams, the British acting director of
privatisation at the Kosovo Trust Agency, KTA.
"It will be a major employer and major source of revenue with a huge
and dynamic impact on the economy."
After six years of U.N. micro-management, the province of 2 million
people is economically stagnant and unemployment hovers between 50 and
60 percent.
The population, 50 percent of which is below the age of 25, is
impatient for change and the streets of Glogovac, 20 km (12 miles)
from the capital Pristina, are filled with young men peddling smuggled
cigarettes.
The picture is the same in Mitrovica in the north, where the
once-thriving Trepca mining complex lies in ruins.
The U.N. hopes a resurgent mining industry can go some way to quelling
the impatience that has fuelled bouts of violence against minority
Serbs, who want to remain part of Serbia.
LEGAL LIMBO
A recent report by the World Bank and Kosovo's Directorate of Mines
and Minerals, DMM, valued Kosovo's total mine resources at 13.5
billion euros, including 6.5 billion at the Sibovc lignite mine just
outside Pristina.
"Kosovo has 40 percent of Europe's lignite, and it's good quality,"
said Adams. "The lignite reserves mean this should be a
power-exporting area for the rest of the region."
The DMM estimates the mining sector needs 1.8 billion euros of
investment to become fully operational, providing 35,000 direct jobs
and at least the same again indirectly.
As a U.N. protectorate, Kosovo's suspended status means its
privatisation process has been dogged by ownership disputes and
liability concerns.
The U.N.-appointed KTA has managed to sell only around 30 of the 500
socially-owned companies -- a unique corporate model of the old
socialist Yugoslavia -- on its books since May 2003.
But the agency insists most of the problems have been ironed out and
there are plans to privatise more of Kosovo's mines.
"Mining is important to Kosovo both historically and in the future,"
says Adams. "We intend to privatise more mines and they will have a
significant impact on jobs and investment in Kosovo.
"Ferronikeli is a very important start." Reuters
You may contact Mr. Adams at:
Kosovo Trust Agency
Kirk Adams,
Special Spin-Off Section
Tel: ++ 381 38 500 400 1261
Fax: ++ 381 38 248 076
E-mail: soetenders@...
You can also see the rules of the tender by going on the following
website:
http://www.ferronikeli.com/eng/download/Rules_of_Tender-Special_Spin_Off-Ferronikeli-ENG.pdf
posted by Balkan Update @ 1:40 PM 0 comments
(english / srpskohrvatski / francais / italiano)
1. Les "autorités du Kosovo" ont mis en vente 2 mines, un hôtel, une
usine de cuir et de chaussures et 9 autres firmes qui appartenaient à
l'état (Business Week, 2 août 2005)
2. In inverse chronological order (2005-2004):
- 12 companies put up for privatization in Kosovo
- Fifth round of privatization in Kosovo underway, Serbs excluded -
union official
- US and Germany have business interests in Kosovo's independence,
says Tomasi
- UN resumes Kosovo privatisation
- Privatization of socially owned companies continues in Kosovo
- CCK requests Constitutional Court to assess privatization
- Kosovo in economic crisis
- CCK labels UNMIK decision in continuing privatization as unilateral
- Privatisation in Kosovo-Metohija is opposed to international standards /
# Privatizacija na Kosmetu protivna medjunarodnim standardima
- Continuation of sale of Serbian companies in Kosovo and Metohija
- Madeleine Albright seeks profits in occupied Kosovo: with mobile
telephone provider
3. April 26, 2005: FERRONIKELI plant up for sale
SEE ALSO:
KOSOVO TRUST AGENCY: http://www.kta-kosovo.org
2004: German party wants Kosovo to be "Special Economic Zone"
http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/news/article/1083874908.php
KOSOVO SACKING FAILS TO CLEAR AIR OVER PRIVATISATION
Holkeri's move to remove privatisation boss pleases Kosovo government
but may not inch the stalled process forward. - By Arben Qirezi in
Pristina
IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, No. 494, April 30, 2004
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200404_494_1_eng.txt
JOBLESS KOSOVARS HEAD ABROAD
Five years after heading home in hope of a new life, Kosovar Albanians
are again packing their bags. By Krenare Kurtishi and Mevlyde Salihu
in Pristina
IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, No. 501, June 03, 2004
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200406_501_4_eng.txt
2004: Reuters: UN to Resume Kosovo Privatisation
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=51408
2004: The Challenge of Economic Reform in Kosovo (by Zijadin Gashi)
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/articles/2004/09/20/reportage-01?print=yes
Kosovo Picks Provisional Winners in Fifth Privatisation Wave
http://kosovareport.blogspot.com/2005/07/kosovo-picks-provisional-winners-in.html
Kosovo, European agency draw up plan to 'improve business environment'
http://kosovareport.blogspot.com/2005/07/kosovo-european-agency-draw-up-plan-to.html
"Kosovo has created Institutional frame for economic development"
http://www.mia.com.mk/ang/Vest.asp?vest=\1\Copy%20of%20Tribina%20FORUM.htm
GANGS AND RED TAPE DETER KOSOVO INVESTORS
Physical threats to businessmen and complex bureaucratic procedures
turning Kosovo into black hole. By Arbana Xharra in Pristina
IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, No. 550, April 06, 2005
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200504_550_3_eng.txt
PROCITAJ JOS:
Smena nije donela resenje problema privatizacije na Kosovu.
Holkerijeva odluka da otpusti sefa agencije za privatizaciju
obradovala je Vladu Kosova, ali se moze desiti da ceo proces
tansformacije drzavne imovine pokrajine propadne.
Pise: Arben Cirezi iz Pristine (BCR Br 494, 29-apr-04)
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200404_494_1_ser.txt
Nezaposleni Kosovari odlaze u inostranstvo
Pet godina posto su se vratili kuci nadajuci se boljem zivotu,
kosovski Albanci ponovo pakuju kofere. Pisu: Krenare Kurtisi i Mevlide
Salihu iz Pristine (BCR Br 501, 03-jun-04)
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200406_501_4_ser.txt
A LIRE AUSSI:
Kosovo : un potentiel touristique négligé [SIC]
http://www.balkans.eu.org/article5139.html
=== 1 ===
Business Week, 2 août 2005
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8BN50980.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down&chan=db
Les autorités du Kosovo ont mis en vente ce lundi 1er août 2 mines, un
hôtel, une usine de cuir et de chaussures et 9 autres firmes qui
appartenaient à l'état, espérant ainsi augmenter la productivité dans
cette province plongée dans la dépression économique.
La Kosovo Trust Agency a lancé le 8e round de privatisation,
s'efforçant de vendre les entreprises qui était avant la propriété de
leurs travailleurs et de leurs managers, sous le système mis en place
durant l'ère communiste en Yougoslavie. L'agence de privatisation
espère que 16 nouvelles compagnies seront créées lorsque tout sera vendu.
La privatisation est parmi les sujets les plus sensibles au Kosovo,
province placée sous administration des Nations Unies en 1999, après
les frappes aériennes de l'OTAN qui avaient mis fin a la répression
serbe contre les indépendantistes Albanais.
Les autorités sont impatientes de vendre les biens et les compagnies,
pour ouvrir des opportunités d'investissement et créer de nouveaux
emplois dans cette province appauvrie.
Le processus de privatisation au Kosovo est complexe, en partie parce
qu'on ne sait pas clairement si cette province deviendra indépendante,
ou si elle restera une partie de la Serbie-Monténegro, l'état qui a
succédé à la Yougoslavie. Les autorités serbes se sont férocement
opposé aux privatisations.
La Kosovo Trust Agency, agence des Nations Unies chargée de privatiser
les entreprises et de leur conférer des bases légales solides, désire
que les entrepreneurs privés assument le risque de moderniser les
industries. Ces compagnies sont inefficaces et ont été dilapidée après
des années de négligence.
Plus tôt dans l'année, la mission des Nations Unies avait fixé de
nouvelles règles pour le processus de privatisation. Avec ces
nouvelles règles, l'agence a acquis le droit de vendre et de choisir
les nouveaux propriétaires des compagnies.
L'agence espère que le nouveau pouvoir rassurera les investisseurs
inquiets de ce qu'un changement dans le paysage politique les
spolierait de leurs biens. [Faut-il comprendre qu'ils s'inquiètent que
les travailleurs ne récupèrent les biens dont ils ont été spoliés par
les bombes et l'occupation ?]
SOURCE : http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/alerte_otan/messages
=== 2 ===
IN INVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER:
---
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8BN50980.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down&chan=db
Associated Press - August 1, 2005
12 companies put up for privatization in Kosovo
Pristina - Authorities in Kosovo put two mines, a
hotel, a leather and shoe factory and nine other
state-owned firms up for sale Monday, hoping to boost
productivity in the economically depressed province.
The Kosovo Trust Agency launched the eighth round of
privatization in an effort to sell the enterprises,
which were once owned by their workers and managers
under the system set up during communist-era
Yugoslavia. The privatization agency is hoping 16 new
companies will be created when the sales are complete.
The agency advertised the companies for sale on its
Web site.
Privatization is among the most sensitive issues in
Kosovo, which was placed under U.N. administration in
1999 following NATO air strikes that ended a Serb
crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.
Authorities are eager to sell assets and companies to
open investment opportunities and create new jobs in
the impoverished province.
The process of privatization in Kosovo is complex in
part because it is unclear whether Kosovo will become
independent or remain part of Serbia-Montenegro, the
successor state of Yugoslavia. Serbia's authorities
have fiercely opposed the privatizations.
The Kosovo Trust Agency, the U.N. entity responsible
for privatizing the enterprises and putting them on a
solid legal footing, wants private entrepreneurs to
assume the risk of modernizing the industries. The
companies are inefficient and dilapidated after years
of neglect.
Earlier this year, the U.N. mission set new rules for
the privatization process. With the new rules, the
agency has earned the legal right to sell and
determine the new owners of the companies.
The agency hopes the new powers will avert concerns
from investors concerned that a change in the
political landscape would rob them of their assets.
---
http://www.tanjug.co.yu/Elect.htm#Fifth%20round%20of%20privatization%20in%20Kosovo%20underway,%20Serbs%20excluded%20-%20union%20official
Tanjug (Serbia and Montenegro) - March 23, 2005
Fifth round of privatization in Kosovo underway, Serbs excluded -
union official
BELGRADE - President of the Federation of Independent
Labor Unions of Kosovo-Metohija Boza Milosavljevic
told Tanjug Wednesday that the fifth round of
privatization is underway in Serbia's southern
province, but that Serbs, who had invested much in
provincial companies, as had the state of Serbia, are
now even physically banned from entering company
premises.
In every round, at least 15 companies are sold only to
ethnic Albanians, Milosavljevic said, explaining that
tenders are published only in Albanian-language press
and that information on tenders is made public only in
places to which Serbs have no access.
---
http://www.makfax.com.mk/news1-a.asp?br=93477
MakFax (Macedonia) - January 20, 2005
US and Germany have business interests in Kosovo's independence, says
Tomasi
Belgrade - Italian reporter Umberto Tomasi claims that
everything is ready for a new media-led strike on
Serbs whose main goal is to drive the remaining
Kosovo's Serbs out of the province. He added that
business interests of the United States and Germany
stand behind the idea of independence of Kosovo.
Italian reporter Umberto Tomasi, a co-author of a book
on Kosovo as the Black Hole of Europe, in which he
condemns the unjust demonization of Serbs and the
secret battle to seize "the biggest coal reserves in
Europe" which are located in Kosovo.
According to the war correspondent, who toured Kosovo
and spoke with the local population, Serbs were
deliberately demonized by certain news agencies in
order to set the stage for the secret battle for
seizing the biggest coal reserves in Europe, that are
located in that province.
In an interview with Belgrade's daily Vecernje
Novosti, Tomasi said the opening of 18 graves in
Kosovo will be used by media to make sure that the
entire world be appalled at these graves, where
Albanian victims of 1999 conflict had been buried.
The media will make a big boom, corpses will be
unearthed days ahead, there will be DNA analyses. All
this will pave the way to new attacks, maltreatment
and exile of Kosovor Serbs, Tomasi said.
Besides banishing of Kosovo's Serbs, the media
campaign will have another much bigger and more
important goal i.e. take-over of natural resources in
Kosovo, in particular the lignite.
The estimated lignite reserves in Kosovo are put at 10
billion tons... Lignite is not oil, however, once
China joined the international share of energy
resources, the lignite will become the second
important energy resource next to oil.
---
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?&nav_category=&nav_id=29139&order=priority&style=headlines
Agence France-Presse - July 15, 2004
UN resumes Kosovo privatisation
PRISTINA - Kosovo's UN-run privatisation agency has
presented a third list of publicly owned enterprises
to be offered for sale.
The list includes 13 state-owned enterprises,
according to Nikolaus Lambsdorff, who heads the EU
mission that handles the process.
"I am confident we will see the launch of a fourth
wave this summer," Lambsdorff said.
Around 500 companies are slated for privatisation but
the process had come to a grinding halt owing to
disputes between ethnic Albanian authorities and the
UN administration which has run Kosovo since the end
of the 1998-99 war.
The third round of tenders had previously been
suspended after irregularities were reported in the
process. In April the head of the UN mission sacked
the foreign official overseeing privatisation.
Meanwhile several thousand people gathered here to
protest employment conditions and criticise the
failure of the government and the UN to revive the
economy, which still suffers from the break-up of the
socialist former Yugoslavia.
"There is no reason why five years after the end of
the war we have ended up with such an economy, with
such unemployment, poverty and continued lack of
social support for our workers," Association of
Independent Trade Unions chief Bahri Shabani told the
crowd.
Unemployment stands at about 60 percent in Kosovo.
---
Privatization of socially owned companies continues in Kosovo
(Vecernje Novosti/Tanjug - APIS Belgrade Media Update, 3-5 July 2004)
After eight months of cessation, the privatization process of socially
owned companies in Kosovo will soon continue according to a decision
by UNMIK and the Kosovo government despite the opposing by the Serb
representatives, Tanjug learned. KP AM Rada Trajkovic has told Tanjug
that the state of Serbia must initiate proceedings before the
international court and sue those who had alienated its property. "In
the privatization process, priority must not be who gives more for
certain premises, but there must be a standard where advantage over
the company, which is the subject of privatization would have the
community that is a majority."
---
CCK requests Constitutional Court to assess privatization
(Tanjug / APIS Belgrade Media Update, July 9 2004)
The CCK has sent a letter to the Serbian Constitutional Court, calling
on it
to assess the constitutionality of UNMIK regulations, which served as the
basis for privatization in Serbia's southern province, the coordination
center said in a statement. According to the CCK, under UNMIK's
regulations
on privatization, privatization in Kosovo is being carried out without the
agreement or participation of the Republic of Serbia, which clashes
not only
with the Serbian Constitution, but also with UNSCR 1244 and Constitutional
Framework for provisional self-administration in Kosovo.
---
Kosovo in economic crisis
(RTS / APIS Belgrade Media Update, July 9 2004)
KP caucus whip Dragisa Krstovic has stated that the economic situation in
Kosovo is very difficult and that this reflects the general political
situation. "Re-initiation of the privatization process, that had been
ceased, is not a good move since it will slow down many other
processes that
should be unfolding, while the international community must create
conditions as soon as possible towards improving the economy in this
region," said Krstovic. SNC leader for northern Kosovo Milan Ivanovic has
stated that the ownership status of companies in the province must
first be
resolved in order to prevent the usurping of Serb property. "It is a fact
that the state of Serbia is the owner of many companies in Kosovo, so that
privatization of companies in Kosovo cannot be implemented according to
UNMIK's model," he said. According to him, first, one should create
conditions for the implementation of the Serbian government plan, so we
could receive our institutions that can resolve economic issues, which are
very important.
---
CCK labels UNMIK decision in continuing privatization as unilateral
(Vecernje Novosti - APIS Belgrade Media Update, 3-5 July 2004)
The CCK has assessed as unilateral UNMIK's decision on continuing the
privatization process in Kosovo and announced that it is examining the
use of possible legal means towards "stopping the plundering of the
property of the Serbian state, legal persons outside Kosovo, and
protecting the legal rights of Kosovo non-Albanian citizens,
especially IDPs." The CCK announced that it would launch the issue of
individual legal responsibility, including international courts, all
those who will take part in the privatization process created by UNMIK
deputy head for economic issues in Kosovo, Nikolaus Lambsdorff,
including his individual and personal responsibility.
---
http://www.tanjug.co.yu/
Tanjug - April 23, 2004
Privatisation in Kosovo-Metohija is opposed to international standards
BELGRADE - Privatisation in Kosovo-Metohija, carried
out by the Kosovo Trust Agency (KTA), cannot proceed
in violation of international standards and without
the participation of Serbia as the greatest creditor
and owner of assets in Kosovo-Metohija, the
coordination centre's department for reconstruction
and economic development said in a statement on Friday.
The KTA has recently started publishing lists of only
ethnic Albanian workers at the privatised socially
owned enterprises who have the right to part of
earnings from the sale of these enterprises and this
is an obvious example of discrimination against the
Serbs and other non-Albanians who used to work at
these companies.
Privatizacija na Kosmetu protivna medjunarodnim standardima
23. Aprila 2004., Tanjug
Privatizacija na Kosovu i Metohiji, koju sprovodi Kosovska poverilacka
agencija (KTA), ne može se odvijati protivno medjunarodnim standardima
i bez
ucecšca Srbije kao najveceg poverioca i vlasnika imovine na Kosmetu,
saopštio je danas Sektor Koordinacionog centra za rekonstrukciju i
ekonomski
razvoj.
KTA je nedavno pocela da objavljuje spiskova radnika do sada
privatizovanih
društvenih preduzeca, iskljucivo Albanaca, koji imaju pravo na deo prihoda
od prodaje tih preduzeca, što je ocit primer diskriminacija radnika
srpske i
nealbanske nacionalnosti nekada zaposlenih u tim firmama.
---
http://www.blic.co.yu
Blic (Serbia-Montenegro) - April 13, 2004
Continuation of sale of Serbian companies in Kosovo and Metohija
Pristina - Director of Kosovo Agency for
privatization, Mariu Fuchi tried to dispute suspicious
sales in the province. She also tried to protect the
real value of the companies in tenders. However,
UNMIK's Chief Herri Holkeri prevented her in doing so.
Holkeri made decision about her dismissal.
Oliver Ivanovic, member of Kosovo Parliament
Presidency said that Fuchi was working completely in
line with the regulations being applied in developed
European countries and that she was dismissed although
nobody had any objection to her work.
In spite of provisions of UN SC Resolution 1244 by
which UNMIK only has the right to manage but not to
decide about the property within state, public and
social sector, Kosovo agency caused damage to the
economy of Serbia of several hundreds of millions of
Euros.
---
http://www.tanjug.co.yu/
Tanjug - April 13, 2004
Madeleine Albright once again in Kosovo - fight for mobile telephone
provider
PRISTINA - Former US Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright, or her consultancy firm Albright Group LLC,
has taken over the job of special adviser of the
chairman of the board of managers of the Kosovo
Internet Provider Ipko Net, which will compete for a
new mobile provider in the province.
As it was stated from Ipko Net, the company recently
founded a joint firm, with mixed capital, with the
American Western Wirless International from Seattle,
with which - as it was said - it intended to compete
for a "second mobile operator" in Kosovo.
Albright seeks profits in occupied Kosovo?
Clinton's Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was unversally
acknowledged
as a major advocate of intervention in the Balkans, from her
sponsorship of
the Hague Inquisition to her drive for the bombing of Serbia in 1999.
Now officially retired from politics, Albright has a lucrative
"consultancy"
business. According to a Belgrade-based news agency
<http://www2.inet.co.yu/index.php?date=20040413> Inet (scroll down to the
entry "17:20"), the Albright Group, LLC will "advise" the board of
Ipko Net,
a Kosovo (Albanian) ISP seeking a mobile telephony concession in the
occupied province. Here is the text of the report, translated by Inet:
<http://www.antiwar.com/blog/more.php?id=745_0_1_0_M> More...
Posted by: <mailto:balkan@...> Nebojsa Malic on Apr 13, 04 |
9:21 pm
=== 3 ===
BALKAN UPDATE
NEWS, ANALYSIS AND PROGRESS:: THE LATEST UPDATES FROM THE BALKANS
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Privatization continues in Kosovo with Ferronikeli plant up for sale
"Ferronikeli"is one of the largest nickel smelting and mining
operations in Europe.
By Matthew Robinson
Gllogovce, Kosovo[Kosova](Reuters) - Kosovo's Glogovac ferro-nickel
plant looks like a bomb hit it.
Twenty-eight bombs, in fact, dropped by NATO during its 1999 air war
to expel Serb forces accused of ethnically cleansing the province's
Albanian majority.
Severed pipes hang from the punctured roof, glass litters the floor
and drums that once collected waste from the smelter now lie up-turned
amid the debris like giant church bells.
"Try to make it look good," the mine's ethnic Albanian technical
director says to a visiting camera crew.
Kosovo's United Nations authorities say the damage is purely
superficial and have put "Ferronikeli" up for sale, seven years after
Serbia closed it down and began using it as a military base in its war
on Kosovo's separatist rebels.
Appearances aside, U.N. officials say Ferronikeli and mines like it
represent the future for the impoverished province.
The plant is one of the largest nickel smelting and mining operations
in Europe, with 13 million tonnes of nickel ore in three open-pit
mines valued at around 2 billion euros.
Lured by a potential 100 million euros (68 million pounds) in annual
revenue, four international mining companies including South Korea's
Samsung Corp are expected to submit bids for it on April 27.
It is the most significant privatisation undertaken by the United
Nations since it took control of the Balkan province in 1999. The
buyer is obliged to take on 1,000 workers and invest at least 20
million euros over the first 3 years.
FUTURE IN LIGNITE
Kosovo's U.N. overseers hope the sell-off will breathe life into the
dormant mining industry, laid low by chronic mismanagement and
under-investment in the 1990s.
Kosovo is rich in nickel -- used to produce steel -- and lignite -- a
form of coal used to produce power -- but its mines badly need
investment. The West plans to decide the province's "final status"
later this year, and Kosovo is keen to prove it can become a viable
independent state.
"For the long-term sustainable future of Kosovo, the major industry
will be mining," says Kirk Adams, the British acting director of
privatisation at the Kosovo Trust Agency, KTA.
"It will be a major employer and major source of revenue with a huge
and dynamic impact on the economy."
After six years of U.N. micro-management, the province of 2 million
people is economically stagnant and unemployment hovers between 50 and
60 percent.
The population, 50 percent of which is below the age of 25, is
impatient for change and the streets of Glogovac, 20 km (12 miles)
from the capital Pristina, are filled with young men peddling smuggled
cigarettes.
The picture is the same in Mitrovica in the north, where the
once-thriving Trepca mining complex lies in ruins.
The U.N. hopes a resurgent mining industry can go some way to quelling
the impatience that has fuelled bouts of violence against minority
Serbs, who want to remain part of Serbia.
LEGAL LIMBO
A recent report by the World Bank and Kosovo's Directorate of Mines
and Minerals, DMM, valued Kosovo's total mine resources at 13.5
billion euros, including 6.5 billion at the Sibovc lignite mine just
outside Pristina.
"Kosovo has 40 percent of Europe's lignite, and it's good quality,"
said Adams. "The lignite reserves mean this should be a
power-exporting area for the rest of the region."
The DMM estimates the mining sector needs 1.8 billion euros of
investment to become fully operational, providing 35,000 direct jobs
and at least the same again indirectly.
As a U.N. protectorate, Kosovo's suspended status means its
privatisation process has been dogged by ownership disputes and
liability concerns.
The U.N.-appointed KTA has managed to sell only around 30 of the 500
socially-owned companies -- a unique corporate model of the old
socialist Yugoslavia -- on its books since May 2003.
But the agency insists most of the problems have been ironed out and
there are plans to privatise more of Kosovo's mines.
"Mining is important to Kosovo both historically and in the future,"
says Adams. "We intend to privatise more mines and they will have a
significant impact on jobs and investment in Kosovo.
"Ferronikeli is a very important start." Reuters
You may contact Mr. Adams at:
Kosovo Trust Agency
Kirk Adams,
Special Spin-Off Section
Tel: ++ 381 38 500 400 1261
Fax: ++ 381 38 248 076
E-mail: soetenders@...
You can also see the rules of the tender by going on the following
website:
http://www.ferronikeli.com/eng/download/Rules_of_Tender-Special_Spin_Off-Ferronikeli-ENG.pdf
posted by Balkan Update @ 1:40 PM 0 comments