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Periskopi(6 years ago)
(6 years ago)The Economic Oda expresses scepticism about public enterprise returns, while the Kosovo Producer Club claims radical reforms are needed in terms of the functioning of public enterprises. And while representatives of civil society say about Kosova Prees, the recent decisions of the new Government on the dismissal of the Telekom board are urgent, without being [...]
At the recent meeting of this government, the dismissal of the Kosovo Telekom Board, with the reasoning that no business plan has been met, excessive expenses, employment, promotions, etc. have been created.
The chairman of the Kosovo Chamber of Economics, Berat Rukiqi, tells Kosovo that each government has come with the will and promise that it will deal with public enterprises, but in the end it turns out that in many circumstances it has been a huge energy expenditure for any government that has dealt with these companies without a plan.
The head of OEK also says that the new government must have a plan, for these companies that survive and become a burden to Government.
I'm skeptical about the public enterprise launch. Clear restructuring, bold decisions to reduce operational spending, which cannot happen without touching the different interests that are in these public enterprises, even the number of employees. And I don't know how much this government can make such decisions, because there is a high sensitivity there that is also linked to the number of workers and which is normally related to how these companies have worked so far”, Rukiqi says.
The head of OEK says Kosovo's Tel Echo remains a large chamberelex for the government, in terms of addressing major problems in this company.
Therefore, it takes a clear plan of what to do with public enterprises, which in most cases are surviving subsidies, a large portion of them. We have the chance, or the big elephant in the room, in terms of public enterprises, which is Post-Telecomi, which is actually in an extremely difficult situation and needs speed, and it needs wisdom in the location to address the matter of Telekom”, he says.
The rise in prices for services in Telekom, according to Rukiqi, is artificially tried to increase revenues, but this is not sustainable because prices are not enough, if there is no improvement in services, increased number of services, and conform transformation of the needs of consumers.
While the executive director of the Kosovo Producers Club, Astrit Panja, says of Kosova Prees, radical reforms are needed in terms of the functioning of public enterprises.
Panja says the political will for decision-making is needed to solve relevant people in the management of these companies and not have political employment, while demanding that, besides the board, a professional management is needed in Telekom.
“I don't know what the balance of the state of Telekom is like, one thing is that many more people work there than they need. No matter how much prices go up, the company cannot be profitable if we have more workers than needed. It requires a reform, a profesio nal management, not politically influenced that this company is clear and will return to operate with profit”, Panja says.
The executive director at Hirre, Arton Demhasa, says of Kosova Preress, that all boards have been with political connections, even often unprofessional.
Demhayan says that these downloads to Telekom, it is not good to be seen as dismissals for political resentment, but to have a solid legal basis and to have strong arguments and reasons, why this is happening.
“In the case of the Post, a Commission has had to be made either in the Parliament or Government makes a preliminary investigation into the work the current board has done and it turns out that this board has been unable to manage this public enterprise properly and now make the decision to download. It's not the first download that happened and it's not «this first government that's being downloaded, and past governments have fired... So their dismissal is a risk that can then be conveyed through appointments that can be made by people who may be linked to political parties”, Demhasaj says.
While, Economy Minister Roseta Hajdari has said they will take measures against other public companies as they are analyzing reports of the Auditor's Office and other suggestions.
“Based on Article 19.3 of the Law for Public Enterprises, says the government should dismiss directors immediately if there is reason to believe they have violated official duties, so in view of the audit office's report, the government notes that executives have allowed excessive expenses, employment, extra-proportional promotions, and contracts for goods and services contrary to opportunities, needs and company pledges for lowering income spending. Consequently, the government finds there is reason to believe that directors have violated official duties for which to be dismissed. In this case, we also have legal cover from the Ministry of Economic Development, but we will consider suggestions for other companies that we are analyzing”, Hajdari says.
The Vetevendosje movement in its economic programme in the October elections has seen the acquisition of the Republic of Kosovo's strategic assets and will have exclusive responsibility for investments in the growth of “Trepca”, KEK, Telekom and Post.
Similarly, Vetevendosje has seen the Kosovo Privatisation Agency disappear and its assets pass over the Sovereign Fund. /I. Shaban/
