Companies towards bankruptcy, due to politicisation of boards

Politisation of public enterprise boards is seen as one of the factors leading to the bankruptcy process.

Representatives of civil society who have conducted research into these positions say such a phenomenon has conveyed all the governments in Kosovo.

In almost all central public and regional enterprises, employment is not realised on the basis of the required criteria, but, as observers from civil society say, members of political parties are appointed by the incoming subjects.

Arton Demhay from the Organisation for Democracy, Anti-Corruption and Dinjit, “Arise”, said a large part of the board members are members of political parties.

In addition to board members, according to him, employment in other positions continue based on political preferences.

This phenomenon is not only damaging the functioning of such a company, but the problem is that even those who are political are not professional for the job they get.

This has affected these companies to be severely damaged, then other employment in other positions have been or may be politically influenced”, Demhasaj said.

And for that reason some of the companies are ahead of bankruptcy, they haven't worked properly, there has been employment of political party militants”, he stressed.

The board members' appointment process, under the law, must be carried out in open, transparent and competitive procedures, which are intended for all appointments to be made exclusively on the basis of merit.

Even Berat Thaqi, policy analyst at the Institute for Advanced GAP Studies, told Radio Free Europe that the law is not respected in appointments to these positions.

The motive these persons are elected members of the boards is to realise the interests of political parties, Thaqi says, adding that these interests do not match the interest of boosting company activity.

“The election of members of the board with political support, who are largely unprofessional and go through the realisation of the interests of political parties, damages the public asset that belongs to all Kosovo citizens, for the sake of realising the interest of a close group of political parties and at the expense of workers and in general of public asset”, Thaci said.

Taking into account the situation in several public enterprises, Demhayan on the other hand says it is the last moment for the Government of Kosovo to take measures so that professional people will be appointed in such positions and on the basis of required qualifications and criteria.

This with a political will can be realised, but so far there has been no such initiatives to be affected in this direction. Because all political parties in some way have been able to meet such a situation. Because everyone who came to power has hired or sent political people to such positions and in a way has remained silent to this” phenomenon, Demhasaj says.

And Berat Thaqi estimates that the government is creating problems in this process.

“In this case Government is the problem, because the Kosovo prime minister's office selects members of the boards, then these members act at the expense of the interest of companies”, Thaqi says.

On Monday, the government of Kosovo has appointed two new members of the Board of a public company and both belong to political parties. One has been the candidate for chairman of Elez's Hani municipality from the Democratic Party of Kosovo, while the other has long held significant positions in the Democratic League of Kosovo.

However, after the end of the central or local elections, according to civil society representatives, political parties which link the ruling coalition, in addition to unwritten arrangements for division of ministries, also become the division of public enterprise boards.