During the visit to the Kosovo Privatization Agency, Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa said that the government will not interfere in the work of the Agency. "We support the work of the Agency and we are working to amend the law. The Agency is very important for the economic development and did an outstanding job in the release of the usurped property, "said Mustafa.
After releasing of the usurped property in Urosevac / Ferizaj and Pristina, Prosecutor Aleksander Lumezi said that action was executed at the request of prosecutors' offices in these municipalities. Head of the Directorate for investigation of corruption in Kosovo Police, Major Shaip Havolli, stated that the action of releasing illegally occupied property will be extended to the Kosovo north.
Mayor of North Mitrovica Goran Rakic said that Kosovo Privatization Agency (KPA) informed him that the sale of enterprises from the so-called Series 27 and 28 in Northern Mitrovica was postponed indefinitely. However, in the meantime he received a letter from the agency that privatization is still continuing.
Pristina authorities are trying to use political vacuum, which occurred after Serbian MPs left Kosovo institutions, so they could continue illegal privatization of the property in the Serbian areas. Kosovo Property Agency announced privatization of 9 premises of socially owned enterprise “Luks” till the end of the month.
The OSCE Mission in Kosovo on Thursday presented a report on illegal re-occupation of properties under the administration of the Kosovo Property Agency (KPA). The report assesses the response of Kosovo institutions to these cases and gives recommendations on ways to enhance the institutional response when re-occupation occurs. According to this report, in which are included only cases submitted to KPA and not north of Kosovo, 95 percent of re-occupations are made by members of the Albanian community that have reoccupied the properties of Serbs.
The former director of the Trepca mining complex, Ferat Shala, urged the opposition parties not to politicize this enterprise. He said that Trepca issue cannot be resolved in the streets, but in Kosovo institutions by hiring experts to do so. According to Shala, Trepca should not be discussed in any way with Belgrade. “Trepca mining complex should not be a topic of discussion in the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue. Kosovo shouldn’t discuss its properties with anyone,” said Shala.
Hundreds of miners in Kosovo refused to resurface at the end of their shift on Tuesday to protest a government policy reversal on the fate of the mine, which is claimed by the country's former master Serbia.
Fearing bankruptcy, Kosovo's new government said last week it would take control of the sprawling Trepca mining complex, but backtracked on Monday following a furious response from Serbia and intense discussions with Western diplomats.
In the period between 1980s and 1990s, with the aim to stop the migration and keep the remaining Serbian people in these areas, Serbia built about twenty factories in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, mostly in the municipalities of Leposavic and Zubin Potok. Former conglomerates Lola, Javor, Simpo, Petoletka, VIK Vrsac, Kristal and Gradac also built their factories there.