GRACANICA – The Association/Community of Serb municipalities (ZSO) cannot survive without property and it is therefore necessary to revise privatization in Kosovo, Ljubomir Maric, Minister of Administration and Local Government in the new Kosovo government, has said.

“Privatization is the most important issue for the Serb community, because it cannot develop if it cannot use its property,” Maric told Tanjug.

“For this very reason, the representatives of the Srpska list insist that all privatizations that have been done so far be reviewed, that it be checked what has been done in line with the law and what was a violation of the law, and that the Serb community assumes responsibility and powers in terms of property,” he said.

Maric said that his efforts would primarily focus on solving the most important problems facing the local population, and those called for ensuring the arrival of investments, encouraging employment and boosting economic development.

“And for local governments to be able to attract investors it is necessary to first resolve the property issue,” the minister stressed.

He said that he would ask for creating an accurate database of property owned by the Serb-majority municipalities and for taking measures to enable them to use that property.

He pointed out that, according to an agreement between the Srpska list and the ruling coalition made up of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Democratic League of Kosovo, the ZSO should be set up in three to five months from now.

The minister said that he expected no resistance to the efforts to form the ZSO, since the establishment of the ZSO had been agreed based on the the Brussels agreement on the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina.

Under the agreement, the ZSO should have competencies in the areas of health, education, economic development and spatial planning, said Maric, who also serves as coordinator of the management team in charge of setting up the ZSO.