QUANDO IL SERVILISMO NON PAGA:
LA SERBIAMONTENEGRO NON PARTECIPERA' ALLA SPARTIZIONE DELLE SPOGLIE
DELL'IRAQ.
B92 Focus, December 2003.
Serbia-Montenegro limited to subcontractor role in Iraq reconstruction
No contracts for Serbia-Montenegro in Iraq | December 12, 2003.
Serbia is out in the cold, along with Germany, France, Russia and
other countries which did not support the US war in Iraq. Despite the
assurances of Prime Minsiter Zoran Zivkovic that negotiations are under
way with one major contractor, there appears to be little hope of Serb
companies finding a share of the massive funds to be poured into Iraq's
reconstruction.
WASHINGTON, BELGRADE, December 11 – Serbia Montenegro is not on the US
list of countries whose companies are eligible for primary contracts in
Iraq reconstruction projects worth almost nineteen billion dollars.
Only countries which supported the US military intervention in Iraq are
eligible for contracts. This leaves Serbia-Montenegro out in the cold,
along with states such as Germany, France and Russia.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today reacted sharply to the ban,
describing it as unfortunate and calling for the rebuilding of
international consensus.
“I would not characterise this decision as unifying,” he said.
At home, federal Defence Minister Boris Tadic has played down the
situation, saying that it was because Belgrade was not taking part in
peacekeeping missions.
“So those who call for us not to participate in peace operations often
don’t understand that this is sometimes a condition for being involved
in the economic reconstruction of a country and making money and
protecting your economic interests in those countries.
“This is why all European countries, virtually all of them, take part
in peace operations because they are fighting for their economic
interests. We have huge assets in Iraq, the country owes a lot,” said
Tadic.
Despite the limited list of those who can sign reconstruction
contracts, those primary contractors are free to subcontract in other
countries, including Serbia-Montenegro.
What negotiations?
Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic, after a meeting with US
Secretary of State Colin Powell in late July, said that he had received
support for Serbian companies to be involved in the reconstruction of
Iraq.
He told media at the time that negotiations were underway with the
Bechtel company which had a major reconstruction contract. Zivkovic
said that the Serbian negotiators had been welcomed and that a final
response was expected.
Asked today whether that response had yet arrived, the prime minister
refused to comment.
But Bechtel’s Iraq representative, Francis Canavan, said today that
there had been no negotiations.
“These were not negotiations about work, they were meetings to provide
information only on the process that we have in place to solicit bids
for contracts and to find subcontractors,” he told B92.
“No Serbian companies are registered in our database,” said Canavan.
Risky contracts
Local businessmen say there’s no rush for contracts, because it will be
another one or two years before the Iraqi market is sufficiently stable
for reconstruction to go into full swing.
One local economist, Milan Kovacevic, says that any effort put into
securing contracts in Iraq would be worthwhile.
“There will certainly be risky projects in Iraq, but this should not
discourage companies from attempts to approach the Iraqi market again,”
he said.
After a series of delays, the Pentagon is to publish the final call for
tenders for Iraq reconstruction jobs by December 19 and announce the
successful bids in early February.
There has already been severe criticism of the way in which the US
awards contracts in Iraq.
In October, US lobby group the Centre for Public Integrity claimed that
most of the companies which had so far won contracts had given more
money to George W. Bush’s election campaign than to any other campaign
in the previous ten years.
The centre’s report also drew attention to extensive links between the
companies and the US government and military.
It claimed that more than sixty per cent of them employed people who
had worked for previous US governments, members of Congress or the US
army.
In his introduction to the report, the director of the Centre for
Public Integrity, Charles Lewis, said that the contracting process in
Iraq and Afghanistan was surrounded by “a stench of political
favouritism and cronyism”.
LA SERBIAMONTENEGRO NON PARTECIPERA' ALLA SPARTIZIONE DELLE SPOGLIE
DELL'IRAQ.
B92 Focus, December 2003.
Serbia-Montenegro limited to subcontractor role in Iraq reconstruction
No contracts for Serbia-Montenegro in Iraq | December 12, 2003.
Serbia is out in the cold, along with Germany, France, Russia and
other countries which did not support the US war in Iraq. Despite the
assurances of Prime Minsiter Zoran Zivkovic that negotiations are under
way with one major contractor, there appears to be little hope of Serb
companies finding a share of the massive funds to be poured into Iraq's
reconstruction.
WASHINGTON, BELGRADE, December 11 – Serbia Montenegro is not on the US
list of countries whose companies are eligible for primary contracts in
Iraq reconstruction projects worth almost nineteen billion dollars.
Only countries which supported the US military intervention in Iraq are
eligible for contracts. This leaves Serbia-Montenegro out in the cold,
along with states such as Germany, France and Russia.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today reacted sharply to the ban,
describing it as unfortunate and calling for the rebuilding of
international consensus.
“I would not characterise this decision as unifying,” he said.
At home, federal Defence Minister Boris Tadic has played down the
situation, saying that it was because Belgrade was not taking part in
peacekeeping missions.
“So those who call for us not to participate in peace operations often
don’t understand that this is sometimes a condition for being involved
in the economic reconstruction of a country and making money and
protecting your economic interests in those countries.
“This is why all European countries, virtually all of them, take part
in peace operations because they are fighting for their economic
interests. We have huge assets in Iraq, the country owes a lot,” said
Tadic.
Despite the limited list of those who can sign reconstruction
contracts, those primary contractors are free to subcontract in other
countries, including Serbia-Montenegro.
What negotiations?
Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic, after a meeting with US
Secretary of State Colin Powell in late July, said that he had received
support for Serbian companies to be involved in the reconstruction of
Iraq.
He told media at the time that negotiations were underway with the
Bechtel company which had a major reconstruction contract. Zivkovic
said that the Serbian negotiators had been welcomed and that a final
response was expected.
Asked today whether that response had yet arrived, the prime minister
refused to comment.
But Bechtel’s Iraq representative, Francis Canavan, said today that
there had been no negotiations.
“These were not negotiations about work, they were meetings to provide
information only on the process that we have in place to solicit bids
for contracts and to find subcontractors,” he told B92.
“No Serbian companies are registered in our database,” said Canavan.
Risky contracts
Local businessmen say there’s no rush for contracts, because it will be
another one or two years before the Iraqi market is sufficiently stable
for reconstruction to go into full swing.
One local economist, Milan Kovacevic, says that any effort put into
securing contracts in Iraq would be worthwhile.
“There will certainly be risky projects in Iraq, but this should not
discourage companies from attempts to approach the Iraqi market again,”
he said.
After a series of delays, the Pentagon is to publish the final call for
tenders for Iraq reconstruction jobs by December 19 and announce the
successful bids in early February.
There has already been severe criticism of the way in which the US
awards contracts in Iraq.
In October, US lobby group the Centre for Public Integrity claimed that
most of the companies which had so far won contracts had given more
money to George W. Bush’s election campaign than to any other campaign
in the previous ten years.
The centre’s report also drew attention to extensive links between the
companies and the US government and military.
It claimed that more than sixty per cent of them employed people who
had worked for previous US governments, members of Congress or the US
army.
In his introduction to the report, the director of the Centre for
Public Integrity, Charles Lewis, said that the contracting process in
Iraq and Afghanistan was surrounded by “a stench of political
favouritism and cronyism”.