UNMIK ON AIR
Silcapor
was privatized late 2003 but only in April this year new owner Zelqif Berisha
could sign the contract. Now, only two months later, Zelqif already needs to
set time apart to tour around the many international businessmen interested in
his products.
CUT 1: We worked for 6 months as sort of
commercialization and made changes in production, export and quality
A recent meeting in The
Grand showed that the changes Zelqif made at Silcapor paid off: he signed a
2-million Euro contract with a Greek company.
CUT 2:
Greek businessman: ‘Today we are here because we decided to make an agreement
with Silcapor company’
The signing of this contract
is a big event for Silcapor, but according to Zelqif’s Greek counterpart, the
choice for a Kosovo-company was an obvious one.
CUT 3: “The biggest
problem in this business is transportation, because the products are cheap and
if transportation would be expensive that would be a big problem. For this
reason the small distance is good. So the product, the price, the
transportation, they make a very good combination.”
Although the wages at
Silcapor are good for local standards, they are still low compared to European
ones. This is one of the reasons why the company manages to export to Europe,
something that only very few companies in Kosovo manage to achieve
CUT 4: One of the
conditions that makes it more convenient to export to Europe is that costs for
workers in Kosovo are cheaper then in the rest of Europe. Also material is
cheaper. This lowers the price of our products and our luck is that we can
export. Because the blocks produced in Europe cost more then … their blocks are
more then 50% more expensive then here
Many of these workers are
with Silcapor for a long time and have seen the different regimes come and go.
This recent one brought a lot of changes for them.
CUT 5: “ Now, this time with privatization is a big difference and is characterized with a big increase in quality and quantity. Of course there’s a higher moral among workers … so all the parameters are in favor of the workers.”
But only part of the
output-increase is thanks to improvements in machinery. In the end it’s up to the
management and the workers to make it happen.
CUT 6: The working
hours are same: we work in shifts, 1st, 2nd and 3rd
shift. And also before we worked. But now, of course there’s rules and
discipline and work and believe in the
future the level will be. We will be happy!
Silcapor seems to turn into a real success story. At least they prove that export from Kosovo to the region and into the European Union IS possible.