29 April
SRSG Michael Steiner
returned from New York, where he had briefed the UN Security Council
on recent developments in Kosovo (see UNMIK Chronicle No. 26).
30 April
SRSG Michael Steiner went to central Gjilan/Gnjilane and nearby
villages affected by the 24 April earthquake in which one man had been
killed and dozens injured. He met members of the Gjilan/Gnjilane municipal
crisis committee and visited the Serb-inhabited village of Gornja Budriga
and the Albanian-inhabited village of Zhegra, two of 17 locations that
suffered serious material damage from the quake. "Earthquakes do
not respect ethnic divisions. They have affected both communities,"
the SRSG said, citing a remark by the Gornja Budriga head of the emergency
committee. The earthquake, which registered 5.6 on the Richter scale,
has been followed by a series of aftershocks. SRSG Michael Steiner said
he would send seismological experts to the area to explain the phenomenon
and address peoples' concerns about further earthquakes. He also pledged
that UNMIK would provide engineers to assess the structural damage and
assist local experts in their work, and announced the establishment
of a special earthquake relief fund, to which UNMIK would contribute
i500,000.
Deputy SRSG Andy Bearpark, who heads UNMIK Pillar IV (Reconstruction
and Economic Development), told the press in Pristina that he had found
evidence of a possible case of corruption in the KEK concerning the
possible fraud of approximately i4.5 million of international aid money
involved in the import of electricity. "I have known for many months
that there have been rumours of corruption in the KEK," Mr Bearpark
said. "Rumours alone are not enough. As I have said repeatedly,
I needed evidence. I now have evidence. As soon as I was made aware
of it last week I contacted the appropriate authorities of the European
Anti-Fraud Office in Brussels," he declared. Mr Bearpark added
that UNMIK was ready to act swiftly to bring those responsible before
the appropriate authorities. SRSG Michael Steiner, who also attended
the press conference, stressed that he had "zero tolerance for
crime and corruption" in Kosovo.
2 May
UNMIK deposited i500,000 allocated from contingency funds into
a new bank account to manage the Earthquake Emergency Fund (EEF), established
by SRSG Michael Steiner. The EEF will be used mainly for in-kind assistance
to individuals and families, with UNMIK targeting funds from the EEF
to the most vulnerable cases. In exceptional circumstances, families
in extreme situations may be eligible for cash assistance of up to i20.
NGOs and donor agencies will provide additional support for the relief
effort.
Leonid Bidny, Director of UNMIK Directorate of Administrative
Affairs, told the press in Pristina that for 199,974 applications received
for UNMIK Travel Documents (TDs) his Directorate had already produced
197,165 TDs. The backlog of "a little bit more than 2,000"
would disappear in two or three days, he assured. The Directorate also
started issuing TDs for children, Bidny added.
UNMIK's Pillar IV (Reconstruction and Economic Development) reported
that the Governing Board of BPK had granted the tender for the Kosova
Insurance Company to the Kurum Commerce Group, based in Istanbul. The
new Kosova Insurance Company was licensed under the new insurance regulation.
Siguria Insurance, an existing company, was approved by the BPK Governing
Board earlier.
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