Serbia invested USD 18 billion in Kosovo
Serbian Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic says that Serbia has invested about USD 18 billion in Kosovo in the past three decades and Serbia is the rightful owner of former state-owned companies in Kosovo.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Thursday, April 28, 2011
Bogdanovic and Ministry for Kosovo State Secretary Oliver Ivanovic say that Kosovo cannot claim ownership of property in the countries of the former Yugoslavia since it is not a successor considering that it was not a republic in the former state and that Serbia has not recognized it as an independent state.
The minister for Kosovo added that the Republic of Serbia Development Fund had shares in about 150 companies in Kosovo, worth more than EUR 140mn based on the government's investments in Kosovo's economy.
He pointed out that, according to Serbian Chamber of Commerce's data, Serbian companies have lodged claims worth about EUR 190mn, based on investments, ownership and loans.
"Companies from Serbia had their branches, field offices and offices or subsidiaries in the Kosovo territory, which have been subject to unlawful sale since 2003 by the Kosovo Trust Agency and later Kosovo Privatization Agency," Bogdanovic stressed.
"Pristina's story that it formed a commission for the return of Kosovo companies' property in the territory of the former Yugoslavia is nothing but throwing dust in the eyes and an attempt to draw attention of its own public from current, burning issues in the province and at the same time homogenize Kosovo Albanian's political elite," Bogdanovic explained.
One of Kosovo Foreign Ministry Directors Ramush Tahiri has stated that 172 Kosovo companies have properties in the countries of the former Yugoslavia and announced that Pristina will soon request their restitution.
