The
news that Madeline Albright has entered the mobile telephone business in
Kosovo is not surprising at all. Her consulting firm the Albright Group
has been selected to provide business advice to the president of the Board
at the Kosovo's Internet provider IpkoNet that plans to make a mobile telephone
offering in the province.
The world is saturated with advisors but the Balkan market is only at
the dawn of development so exploiting contacts is a boom. Apparently, with
friends among the Albanian leadership including Hasim Taci Albright also
entered this game.
Ex-UK Foreign Policy Minister, Douglas Heard also could not resist the
telecommunications sweet-deals so he brokered the sale of Telecom Serbia
to the Italian group.
Coordinator for the Stability Pact, Bodo Hombach who was also the executive
director of a German media house VAZ, created a mixed partnership with
the Belgrade based Politika after the expiration of his term as the Stability
Pact chief. Rumor has it that he began the partnership negotiations back
in 2001, during his mandate, and his investments in Serbian media are attributed
to his close friendship with the assassinated Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic.
VAZ did not buy Politika because of high investment risk. Politika was
in bankruptcy proceedings so the salvation was found with a mixed partnership
where each party owns half. Politika brought its brand to the partnership
that is valued at 25 million German Marks and includes its daily and about
15 original magazines. VAZ was supposed to bring in that much value also
yet, even if the money was infused it is unclear what it was used for.
There was talk of raising wages but they have not been substantially raised.
Some new computers were bought, few offices have been remodeled and supplies
have been paid off that have been ordered previously.
VAZ has a presence in 8 countries in the Eastern and central Europe
and owns 28 dailies and among these are Montenegro's Vijesti and Serbia's
Dnevnik.
George Soros has never taken part in the American establishment, but
through his Soros Foundation that has been financing opposition parties
in the previously socialist countries of the Eastern Europe, he helped
install western-oriented politicians in the transition countries.
Soros is a businessman so he does not hide his willingness to pour money
in a risky terrain such as Kosovo. Soros has already invested into the
Cable system in Serbia so speculations abound that he wants to do the same
in Kosovo. Often mentioned is his interest in buying the Trepcha Mines
that is still under government ownership.
Soros has allegedly spent $50 million on lobby efforts to buy the mine.
Domestic finance specialist value the Trepcha Mines at $10 billion because
of its huge reserves of coal, zinc, lead and other metals. Foreign observers
value the mine at $5 billion.
Maybe it is a coincidence, says Nenad Vasic, an analysis from Kosovo,
but it is Bernard Kouchner, a Frenchman and second civil commander of Kosovo,
that brought the French Alkatel to Kosovo with a monopoly-type grant from
the PTT Kosovo to run mobile telephone system Valja 900. Two years ago,
Alkatel had 300,000 subscribers with about $200 million in revenues.
Director of the Center for Free Markets, Miroslav Prokopijevic says
that it is a "Standard procedure that functionaries in the western countries
do a job and after it get a reward with opportunities and money".
"While they are serving their political function, they cannot do any
business, but later come at the back door. The rules in the West are strict
and it prohibits mixing politics and business, so business is done after
their mandate. Officially, there is no conflict of interest here, especially
if the business gets hatched in banana republics" says Prokopijevic.
