Americans interested in investing in Brezovica

Government officials, unwilling to provide details, confirm to Radio Free Europe that such a possibility will likely occur after the signing of the economic agreement in Washington on 4 September.

Details of possible investment have been discussed on Monday, when an American delegation led by the special envoy for negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia, Richard Green, visited Kosovo.

The first to mention American interest was the chief executive of the US International Finance and Development Corporation, Adam Boehler, after meeting with Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti.

The US delegation remained in Kosovo and Serbia just days after signing the agreement for economic normalisation.

Kosovo Must Propose Project

Kosovo Economic Ode Director Berat Rukiqi, who has attended meetings with American representatives, says Brezovica has had special interest.

We've had an informal meeting with financial Development Corporation experts, but also a formal meeting at the US ambassador's residence and there's been particular interest in these projects that can be implemented in public-private partnerships. I believe Brezovica will be the top-priority”, Rukiqi says.

According to Rukiqi, commitment is now required by Kosovo institutions as soon as possible to analyse existing projects and propose an acceptable investment project.

The previous “project has been 450m euros and is hard to finance such a project. He was a huge believer. The Kosovo government must split the project in several phases. Let me see where the government can invest where the DFC [the International Financial Development Corporation] can and then where it can invest the private sector, because it doesn't need to be fully with a single investor”, Rukiqi says.

The same as for other projects, nor has the Brezovica project been determined by financial structures through which this project is expected to be experienced.

American inclusion, project life guarantee

Since the end of the war, Brezovica has been a political problem between Kosovo and Serbia.

As with other assets in Kosovo, the state of Serbia continues to have claims on ownership of the Brezovica tourist complex, the one located in the predominantly Serb municipality of Shrpca.

But, in addition to political problems, the Kosovo government failed to tackle Brezovica in an economic way as well.

French consortium “MDP Consulting Compagnie des Alps” was declared the winner for the privatisation of the Brezovica tourist centre in 2014, at a price of 409m euros, of which 165 million were expected to be invested over the first three years, and it was promised to open 4,000 new jobs.

Just two years later, the Ministry of Trade and Industry announced that privatisation had failed because the consortium led by the French company had failed to meet financial obligations.

Economics expert Safet Gerjaliu believes a moment of use has been created.

The US pledge to help live the Brezovica project, according to Gerjaliu, solve the problems of the past.

America's “Americars have been targeting some hot spots, whether with Wyman or Brezovica, and I want to believe that such an approach will result in generating positive effects in Brezovica because it is a truly important economic resort. Brezovica has a separate specificity that also has multi-ethnicity, so it has political significance and I want to believe that the American willingness to invest in this direction will produce results”, Gerjaliu says.

Brezovica Investments Increase International Tourism

Lack of investments in the Brezovica ski centre has caused millions of euros in losses to Kosovo, says Baki Hoti, chairman of the Tourism Union in Kosovo.

No government so far has held tourism as a priority, despite tourism being one of the country's main economic factors and a sector that employs an enormous number of citizens. If the Brezovica section were in place, I think 99 percent would have more visitors. Brezovica is the best country in the Balkans if there will be investments understood”, says Hoti.

He emphasises that the Kosovo tourism community has repeatedly asked Kosovo institutions to invest in projects that have special tourist significance such as the Brezovica ski centre.

Possible investments in Brezovica, according to Hoti, would return a large number of visitors both from the Balkans, but also from various European countries.

What is Brezovica today?

The biggest investments in Brezovica occurred in the years of the former Yugoslavia.

Hotels, cables, and other important facilities for operating this tourist location were built in the following years.

No major investment in infrastructure has taken place for more than three decades in this country. Currently, the ski centre operates with limited capacity and outdated infrastructure.

In its first 20 years of construction, the Brezovica ski centre was among the most visited in the region.