Mine takeover "could trigger unrest in north Kosovo"

Source: Tanjug

ZVECAN -- If adopted in the Kosovo assembly, a bill amending the law on public enterprises could destabilize the situation in northern Kosovo, says Jovan Dimkic.

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It could also "put the implementation of the Brussels Agreement in jeopardy," the general manager of the Mining, Metallurgical and Chemical Combine Trepca warned on Friday.
The announced amendments, initiated by the Kosovo government, have caused massive concern, fear and resentment among the more than 3,300 Trepca employees in northern Kosovo, Dimkic told a press conference.

Trepca is completely destabilized by this and its workers cannot accept a unilateral expression of political will and legislative acts characterized by legal violence, Dimkic said.

The issue of Trepca must be put on the agenda of the Brussels talks urgently, Dimkic noted, adding that the negotiations should produce a solution that is acceptable to all.

"In that sense, we support the statement by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and the positions presented regarding the significance and method of solving what is one of the most difficult issues for the Serb community in Kosovo and Metohija", he said.

Trepca is property of the Development Fund of the Republic of Serbia, the Republic of Serbia - and the Serbian government as its representative, and the goal of adopting the amendments to the law on public enterprises is to transfer the ownership to the Kosovo government, Dimkic said.

"The adoption of the law on public enterprises will alter and drastically aggravate the complete economic, social, and security situation and the overall political situation in Kosovo, with unforeseeable consequences," he warned.

Dimkic expressed concern that, if adopted, the amendments to the law on Kosovo's public enterprises could lead to unrest in northern Kosovo.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said Thursday that a unilateral decision of the Kosovo government to take over the ownership of Trepca will deal a heavy blow to the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

This is a matter of utmost importance for Serbia, Vucic said, adding that he has already informed "all Western partners about the issue."

The Mining, Metallurgical and Chemical Combine Trepca is one of the most important Serbian enterprises in Kosovo-Metohija, and one of tremendous value.

It has been a point of dispute between Belgrade and Pristina ever since the ethnic Albanians in the southern Serbian province unilaterally proclaimed independence in 2008.

The Trepca combine has existed for over 85 years and it used to employ 25,000 people, both Serbs and ethnic Albanians.

The combine is divided into two parts - the southern (around 70 percent of capacities) controlled by Albanians, and the northern part (around 30 percent), run by Serbs.

Trepca has been claimed by various 'owners' after the Interim UN administration mission was established in Kosovo following the armed conflict in the province and NATO's bombing campaign against the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999. However, in 2008, the international administration declared valid the old Trepca structure, based on which the Serbian government, through its development fund, owns a 66 percent stake in Trepca, while the rest is owned by shareholders, including employees.

In 2011, the Kosovo government announced the possibility of a privatization of Trepca, and the government in Belgrade then said it will seek opinion on the issue from competent international judicial bodies.

The authorities in Belgrade hold the announced privatization of Trepca illegal and contrary to UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

On May 17, 2013, the Serbian government signed an agreement on technical and business cooperation between Trepca Mines and US New Generation Power LLC that should bring new investments and increase and improve quality of production and create new jobs in Trepca.

Currently, Trepca is under a moratorium that has been placed on it by the Special Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kosovo and it is run by the Privatization Agency of Kosovo (PAK).