From mentor at alb-net.com Tue Jun 21 07:46:21 2005 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Kosova Crisis Center News and Information) Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 07:46:21 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [Kcc-News] Kosovars Spy Salvation in Mineral Wealth Message-ID: http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200505_557_2_eng.txt Kosovars Spy Salvation in Mineral Wealth Experts. reports speak of vast, untapped resources, but questions over their exploitation remain. By Arbana Xharra in Pristina (BCR No 557, 25-May-05) The sale in Kosovo of one of its biggest mineral mines has raised hopes of the more effective exploitation of what experts say is a great potential source of wealth. The Ferronickel mines and plant in Drenas/Glogovac, 30 kilometres west of Pristina, went under the hammer last week. The sale was organised by the much-criticised Kosovo Trust Agency, KTA, which the UN has charged with selling off Kosovo's socially-owned firms. That this region is mineral rich is beyond doubt. A recent joint survey by Kosovo's Directorate for Mines and Minerals and the World Bank put a 13.5 billion euro price tag on its resources of raw materials. The survey warned that the mines needed huge investment, to the tune of about 1.8 billion euro, which might generate 35,000 new jobs. Rainer Hengstmann, director of the Independent Commission for Mines and Minerals, ICCM, is especially interested in Kosovo' reserves of lignite, used primarily for generating electricity and heating. "Kosovo's lignite wealth is strategically important, as it is one of the biggest reserves of high quality lignite in Europe," he said. Agron Dida, deputy minister for Energy and Mines, said, "In 2004, Kosovo power plants used only around 5.7 million tonnes of lignite - and there are an estimated ten billion tonnes [underground]," he said. "We should be well set for the next few centuries." Although Kosovo is apparently well endowed with valuable raw materials, there is little to show for it. The territory suffers from routine electricity shortages, for example, and Agim Shahini, president of the Kosovar Business Alliance, says the power cuts put off many foreign investors, "The unstable electricity supply is the main disincentive to investors because factories cannot work on generators." Even the factories that should be processing Kosovo's underground minerals lie unused and empty. Ferronickel is one of them. Murat Mehaj, a geodesy expert who has worked there since 1984, says at the peak of operations in 1989 the company employed around 2,000 workers, producing 7,800 metric tonnes of nickel per year. Matters had deteriorated by 1991, when production slumped to only 300 tonnes per year. As Slobodan Milosevic tightened his grip on Kosovo, the plant crumbled, laying off 1,800 workers. The infrastructure suffered in 1999, when Serb police were stationed in the buildings, which were hit by NATO bombs. A sign of growing international interest in Kosovo's raw materials was the World Bank's decision on April 21 to give 2.5 million US dollars towards revitalising Kosovo's energy and mining sector. At a press conference on March 17 in Pristina, Hengstman said two of the world's largest mining exploration and extraction companies were racing to exploit these underground riches, though he did not reveal their names. But the question of Kosovo's final status continues to block the exploitation of its natural resources. In the current legal vacuum, Serb officials say Belgrade has a right to veto any proposed deals. Ivan Ahel, a Serb expert on Kosovo ores and technical director of Belgrade's Zirovski Vrh uranium mine, said, "Under UN resolution 1244, Kosovo is a part of Serbia and until that status changes, Serbia has a right to be involved. "As for who should manage that wealth, that requires a political solution between the Serbian and Kosovo governments." Ahel downplayed reports of the wealth lying underneath Kosovo's surface, saying the quantities were large but the quality low. "We have to make it clear to some Serb and Kosovo politicians that the commercial interest is not as high as it might appear," he concluded. Hengstman disputes Serbia's claim on Kosovo's natural resources. "The natural wealth of Kosovo belongs to the people of Kosovo," he said, cautioning that he could not deal with such complaints. "That's for the politicians to deal with." While Kosovo's status question is unresolved, Haki Shatri, Kosovo's finance minister, says grants like the recent award from the World Bank will remain important. "Kosovo needs such donations because our unresolved status means we cannot get loans from international monetary institutions," he said Not all local Albanians share in the talk of a rosy future for Kosovo built on valuable raw materials. Some point out that a great deal of money has been invested already in mining projects - without obvious results. Around one billion euro has so far flowed from the World Bank and European Agency for Reconstruction, EAR, into Kosovo's mining and power projects. Yet the protectorate cannot even secure a decent power supply to homes and factories. "It is amazing to hear that there is this great wealth of minerals underground that could help improve our electricity supply," one local businessman told IWPR. "I have had to invest thousands of euro to buy powerful generators." Arbana Xharra is an economics reporter on Koha Ditore. From mentor at alb-net.com Tue Jun 28 10:04:40 2005 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Kosova Crisis Center News and Information) Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2005 10:04:40 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [Kcc-News] Foreign Raiders Plunder Kosovo's Heritage Message-ID: http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200506_561_4_eng.txt Foreign Raiders Plunder Kosovo's Heritage Recent case of alleged treasure hunters in Novobrdo highlights poor protection of historic sites. By Alma Lama in Pristina (BCR No 561, 23-Jun-05) Four UNMIK police officers have been allegedly caught searching for archeological treasures in the medieval fort of Novobrdo in eastern Kosovo. An UNMIK source said members of the Polish Special Police Unit, PPSU, based in northern Mitrovica, were using metal detectors and digging holes within the walls of the old mining town on which the fort was built. Also known as Monte Argendaria, Novobrdo is in a mineral rich area. In medieval times, the town's silver mines generated great wealth, drawing German settlers. The PPSU has not confirmed the report and the unit commander was not available for comment. UNMIK police spokesperson, Neeraj Singh, said the matter was "under investigation". In the 1960s the Yugoslav authorities placed Novobrdo under protection as a site of special importance. Today, there are signs indicating Novobrdo's protected status in English, Albanian and Serbian. But the fort's guard, Albanian Islam Vllasaliu who confirmed the report of IWPR's UNMIK source, said this did not deter the policemen from digging for about three hours. "I told them in Albanian that it is forbidden to dig in the castle, but they would not listen," he said. As they may have not understood each other, the guard called the Kosovo Police Service and handed them his cell phone, so they could speak to the KPS directly. He said when KPS officers arrived on the scene the UNMIK police officers refused to hand over the objects they had uncovered, including coins. Haxhi Mehmetaj, director of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage and of the Pristina Museum, which has custody over Novobrdo, said the museum has not recovered the stolen objects. Mehmetaj said the coins probably had some value, while the other items might be of "invaluable archeological importance". Veli Bytyqi, of Kosovo's culture ministry, said the affair raised important issues about protecting Kosovo's archaeological heritage. "The authority of the officials in charge of the protection of our cultural heritage is not being respected," he said. "The case of the Novobrdo guard and UNMIK police officers is a case in point." Cultural experts complain that objects are regularly removed and sold. Mehmetaj said he knew of "dozens" taken by KFOR soldiers or UNMIK officials, often with the cooperation of local officials. He told Balkans Crisis Report, BCR, he had information that raiders recently unearthed a piece of Illyrian art that was more than 2,000 years old from a site near Korisha, close Prizren, and sold it to an Austrian collector. The Roman archeological sites of Ulpiana, near Pristina, and Gllamnik, in Podujevo are also frequent targets, said Mehmetaj. Although a Yugoslav law on the protection of cultural heritage, approved in 1978, remains in force in Kosovo, no one stops the illegal treasure hunters and the traffic in archeological objects is conducted openly. Xhemajl Novobwrda, whose house lies close to the walls of Novobrdo, says he often observes this theft. "I see people coming at night and digging to find old objects," he told BCR. Mehmetaj says the plunder started well before UNMIK assumed control of Kosovo's administration, especially during the last, lawless years of Serbian rule. "Many archeological objects were stolen after the 1980s," he said. "Belgrade neglected all other heritage in Kosovo except for Serbian Orthodox monuments, as it wanted to build up a myth about Kosovo's Orthodox heritage." The current authorities lack the resources to restore or to safeguard even the most important archeological sites. "The government does not have a big enough budget," said Veli Bytyqi, who complains that international authorities "have not given due importance to ensuring our heritage is not stolen". A recent donation of 40 million euro by the UN's cultural arm, UNESCO, may help to change matters. But it remains to be seen whether the extra money will be enough to safeguard Novobrdo, Ulpiana and Kosovo's other historic sites from traffickers in cultural heritage. Alma Lama is a reporter from Radio Television Kosovo and a BIRN contributor. BIRN is a localised IWPR project.