UNMIK ON AIR

June 13 2003

From kosovo to Irak

(Hysni Recica)

Andy Bearpark: Kosovo is on a journey, there are always going to be problems, but things are moving forward, and things are better than they were before.

Andy Bearpark the head of the European Union in Kosovo since August 2000 is now on his way to Iraq.

Hello and welcome to UNMIK on air with

Known as Mr. Economy, Bearpark’s departure was unexpected, but he insists he will still have one foot in the Balkans and one in the Middle East until a replacement is found.

Bearpark has put his signature on a number of economic developments in Kosovo - the smooth transition to the Euro, setting up a banking system, modernizing the custom services, drafting the legal infrastructure for privatization and investments to mention a few are.

But, Bearpark has his critics too, especially when it comes to the running of KEK and PTK, since even four years after the war we still have power cuts and PTK is seen as lacking transparency.

So how does Mr. Economy himself look at his track record – he is proud of what has been achieved, he says, but unhappy with the pace of those developments.

Andy Bearpark: It has always been a source of frustration for me that it takes so long to achieve things. Yes, the privatization process is underway now, but I wish it had been underway two years ago. Yes, the power supply is a lot better than it was, but it has taken a long time to get there.

It is never the right time to leave says Bearpark, referring to his early departure, since he was supposed to stay here at least until the end of the year.

Andy Bearpark: Yes, there are still many, many things to be done, but quite honestly, there will be things to be done for the next ten or however many years it may be until Kosovo takes its proper place as part of the European Union and I have had a part to play in that process, but I am not sure the people of Kosovo would want me here for 20 years.

Bearpark is confident that the economic situation has changed for the better. Fiscal policy might need to be reviewed, he says, but like anywhere in the world, those decisions have to be taken on the advice of international financial institutions.

Andy Bearpark: As far as the fiscal regime is concerned, these aren’t things that are imposed by one party, the current fiscal regime is the result of work that was done by the World Bank, and by the International Monetary Fund, two, three years ago they will be looking at the fiscal regime and say it is still right or should there be changes and if they say this is a barrier to investments in Kosovo, and then it will be our responsibility to change it.

Kosovo, he says has made enormous progress in the last 3 years, but obviously much more needs to be done. The road to privatization has now been cleared, and while Andy Bearpark is proud of that, he also sounds a note of caution.

Andy Bearpark: Privatization is not a magical solution by itself; everybody knows that an enormous number of these enterprises are actually bankrupt.

But there is an up side - the Customs department for example, which now collects around 70 % of the income for the Consolidated Budget. That is significant says Bearpark since it is a sign that Kosovo is slowly becoming self-sustainable and less and less dependent on foreign aid.

Andy Bearpark: You should be proud of your custom service, if it wasn’t for the custom service, the money would not be being collected into the Kosovo budget. Three years ago, the Kosovo consolidated budget was being funded by the aid donors, they do not fund it anymore; they fund a very tiny proportion of it.

Mr. Economy, Andy Bearpark, the outgoing head of the EU in Kosovo talking to UNMIK ON AIR. Thanks for listening.