Serbia Puts OSCE Building in Kosovo For Sale

Serbia Puts OSCE Building in Kosovo Up For Sale

Pristina | 12 February 2010 | Petrit Collaku
 

OSCE building Pristina

Belgrade has put the Pristina building which currently houses the OSCE mission up for auction, with a starting price of almost €3 million. The Serbian government wants to sell part of the facilities which formerly housed the failed Jugobanka. The facilities total some 11,000 square metres of space across Kosovo worth an estimated €5 million, including the landmark building in Pristina.

The OSCE moved into the building in 1998, but is now expected to move to smaller facilities in Kosovo's capital.

The Privatisation Agency of Kosovo, PAK, has called on Kosovo police, prosecutors and courts not to recognise any contracts for the sale.

“According to the law on the Privatisation Agency of Kosovo, approved by Kosovo’s assembly, in Article 5.1 it is made clear which authority is responsible for administering publicly owned property,” Yll Kaloshi, PAK spokesperson, told Balkan Insight.

Kaloshi said that Ahtisaari’s Comprehensive Proposal for Kosovo Status, the document which has guided Kosovo’s post-independence governance strategy, also makes clear who the owners are.

“Article 8.3 of the settlement says that immovable and movable property of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or the Republic of Serbia located within the territory of Kosovo at the time of the settlement shall pass to Kosovo,” he said. Serbia, however, does not recognise Kosovo’s independence or the Ahtisaari plan.

PAK has called on all parties interested in the privatisation of public companies to contact them. “This is the only legal institution in Kosovo for the privatisation of publicly owned companies,” said Kaloshi.

Pristina Municipal Court said that it would not certify any agreements from the sale. “We will not certify any agreements on the sale of publicly owned property or companies without the consent of the Privatisation Agency of Kosovo,” Nuhi Ukaj, president of the Municipal Court of Pristina, told Balkan Insight.

In the past, Kosovars have bought property through Belgrade institutions but have not been registered as legal owners, as the documents are not recognised in Kosovo.

Kommentar: Das Gebäude gehört also einer Bank, womit die Auslegungen der Kosovo Albaner sowieso nonsens sind.