UNMIK ON AIR
Hello
and welcome to UNMIK on air
Kllokot is a Serb village in Gjilan/Gnjilane municipality,
situated in southeastern Kosovo. Although it is a small village, the name is
very well known to all Kosovans because of its rich mineral water resources.
AND
ONE COMPANY - “Banja e Kllokotit” which has operated in Kosovo for 42 years as
a mineral water bottling landmark, is one of the businesses the Kosovo Trust
Agency has scheduled for privatization in what is Kosovo’s third major wave of
privatization in the last two years.
However,
what makes this company of 247 employees different from other companies in
Kosovo is the fact that this is one of the rare multiethnic businesses in
Kosovo.
“Banja
e Kllokotit” is one of three Socially Owned Enterprises or SOE-s that will
undergo a special spin-off process in which the three best offers selected on
September 15 will compete again in their quest to buy the company.
Haqif
Bajrami is the Director of Banja e Kllokotit and he praises the work that has been done
since 1999 to erase the debt burden of the formally socially owned enterprise.
He adds that the number of investors interested to buy this company is proof to
our success.
“We are organized together with the workers to participate
in the bidding process. Out of 37 potential shareholders 10% are Serbs who are
directly involved. Although the competition is very tough, we are very proud
since during this time we have reestablished the name that pushed other
investors to participate in this tender process.”
The workers on the other
hand do not hide their enthusiasm about the fact that they may be future owners
of the company. Vesna Kovacevic is one of the shareholders who, with her
colleagues, are keen to continue working for Banje e Kllokotit, a success story
where few exist.
“I have worked
here since 1999 and the relations among the workers has always been excellent,
I never had problems. We think that the privatization will help us the most
since we would have the company in our hands and that is what we all want.
Vesna’s Kosovo Albanian colleagues are also very satisfied with the relations between the workers. The relations between us are very good and we do not have any problems says Isa Limani, adding that now they are all thinking about the history which both Albanians and Serbs have put into the company.
“ The workers are all interested in
buying the company since we have all worked here for a long time. They are
interested in making the company prosper, to invest and to work more. So far
this has been going very good but we believe that we can do better.
Atmos: sound of the truck transporting the bottles.
Although some of the workers are not so familiar with the process of privatization, often a confusing subject even for international observers - their desire is to continue to be a part of this company. Ljubisa Svilanovic is from Kllokot village and he says his future is closely linked with this tender process.
“ I worked here since 2001 and we all
worked normally to date. Now we heard about this privatization and although we
don’t really know what it’s about, we would like to stay here and work since
this is the place were we live.”
And this, according to Banje’s Director, Haqif Bajrami, will be achieved if they succeed in winning the bidding process.
“If we get this company we have a plan to increase
manpower and amongst those who will be hired, there will be 9 Serbs in addition
to those who are currently working.”
On Wednesday – the tender will be announced presenting an enormous task for the eventual winner - continuing the road of success that the present workers at “Banja e Kllokotit” are so proud of.
And that is all for today’s edition of UNMIK on air.
Thanks for listening and stay tuned.