Albright Phone Buyout Stirs Competition Concerns in Kosovo
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Opinion: Kosovo’s Heroes Without Guns August 31 - September 13, 2012 Issue No. 94 www.prishtinainsight.com Price € 1 NEWS Kosovo Dacic to Discuss Gang Stole New Kosovo Talks With Ashton Millions > page 2 NEWS from Kurdish Asylum Seekers Put VIP in Spain Visa Liberalisation at Risk Four Kosovo Albanians > page 3 are accused of stealing BUSINESS almost 2 million euro of Kosovo Crack Down jewels and goods from on Brand Name the Barcelona hotel room of a Kurdish gener- Fraudsters al, the son of the Iraqi > page 6 Kurdish leader Massoud TRAVEL Barzani. Albania’s Stone See Pages 4 - 5 Villages Still Await Albright Phone Buyout Stirs New Lease of Life Competition Concerns in Kosovo Competition commission says it will want to investigate concerns about a mobile phone monopoly if a company chaired by Madeleine Albright buys 75 per cent of the state telecom firm, PTK. > page 14 less 1 per cent. lies, says the government must Mystery over shareholders: By Parim Olluri Five senior members of consult it before signing any deal INSIDE PRISHTINA Albright Stonebridge Group are with Albright Capital IPKO has refused to confirm Women Call for shareholders in IPKO: Madeleine Management for PTK, , the coun- oncerns about competition whether Albright Stonebridge Albright, James O'Brien, Suzanne try’s most profitable public firm. in Kosovo’s mobile phone Group members remain share- Better Facilites at George, Carol Browner and Wendy “The government should ask us Cmarket are growing since it holders. emerged that Albright Capital Sherman. for an interpretation about But, according to the country’s City Mosques Management, chaired by Albright Stonebridge Groups whether a monopoly will created Business Registration Agency, Madeleine Albright, is bidding holds 25 per cent of the shares in in such a case,” Ahmet Krasniqi, ARBK, Albright and colleagues > page 18 alongside Portugal Telecom to buy Albright Capital Management. head of the Competition continue to hold shares in the firm. a 75 per cent of Post and Telecoms There are concerns, therefore, Commission, said. Eight years ago, Albright, a of Kosovo, PTK. that the country’s two mobile “After analysis, the Commission heroine in Kosovo for her support PTK is the only rival in the mar- phone operators will be at least will decide whether this will be of Kosovo’s independence, became ket to IPKO, Kosovo’s sole private partly controlled by the same permitted or should be stopped. advisor to the chairman of the Kosovo’s only English-language mobile phone operator, in which group. “But we need to be consulted board of IPKO Net, Arkan Ismaili, newspaper is available: the former US secretary of state Kosovo’s Competition before the contract is signed since now Kosovo’s US ambassador. and her colleagues owns shares, Commission, an independent body that contract is not valid without Delivered to although their stake now stands at tasked with preventing monopo- our approval,” he concluded. continues page 2 Your Door Elite Prostitutes in Balkans Thaci Lobbyists Push for From Newsstands Reap Rich Rewards McDonald’s in Kosovo across Kosovo She is neither a Moldavian nor a The fast-food company McDonald’s is the Sent To Ukrainian whose personal documents only named business to have been the sub- Your Inbox were seized by human traffickers, forcing ject of lobbying by Patton Boggs in its her into prostitution in some nightclub in meetings promoting Kosovo. the Balkans - as was often the case in the According to documents that the firm From nineties. has submitted to the US Justice our partners She lives in a Vojvodina town in the Department, Patton Boggs emailed, feature north. Her parents are... page 12-13 business phoned and a held... page 7 see page 16 for more info is supported by: 2 August 31 - September 13, 2012 news Albright Phone Buyout Stirs Competition Concerns in Kosovo from page 1 media,” Darinka Pavlic Kamien, head of communications for the At the time, IPKO Net was an Slovenian company, said. internet service provider, “The issue of whether to though it was already drawing reveal [the owners of] the shares up plans to enter the mobile remains under the company’s phone market. discretion,” she added. Four years later, in 2008, IPKO Albright Stonebridge Group Telecommunications won a and ambassador Ismali failed to licence to become the country’s reply to queries sent by email first private mobile phone oper- and phone about their shares in ator. IPKO. Ismaili and Albright were Mehdi Pllashniku, head of the among the shareholders. business registry, said his Telekom Slovenije owned agency made changes to share around 60 per cent of the shares ownership information as soon and the Slovenian state retains a it received such information. controlling stake in the firm. “This is usually done in two to In its latest financial report, three minutes,” he explained, dated November 2011, Telekom adding that the details now Slovenije says it today it holds online are up to date. 93.11 per cent of the shares of Pllashniku added that the IPKO Telecommunications, information regarding share- after buying out a number of holders should be made public. other shareholders. “There is no reason to hide It does not list who owns the names. A company might not remaining stake. share what percentage of shares “The structure of ownership, a shareholder has, but it should the number of shares per share- make the names public,” he PM Thaci meeting former secretary of state Albright in Washington earlier this year holder, as well as ownership said. transactions … are not available Using Kosovo’s Access to Prishtina Insight has, however, Albright in April while visiting Environment, and the last White to the public, including the Official Documents Law, obtained the latest breakdown of the US to hold talks with current House Chief of Staff under share distribution in IPKO, US leaders. President Bill Clinton, John dated in December 2009. Thaci “expressed his gratitude Podesta, were also at the meeting. This confirms that Telekom for the continual engagement Podesta, together with his Slovenia holds 93 per cent of that former secretary Albright brother Tony, founded a lobbying shares, while Factor Banka has has shown and is showing in sup- company, Podesta Associates. He 2.85 per cent and Ismaili 1.3 per porting democratic developments now chairs the Center for cent. in the Republic of Kosovo”, the American Development, a liberal It also shows that five Prime Minister’s website said. think-tank in Washington. Albright Stonebridge Group Albright reportedly congratu- Tony is now chair of Podesta members retain shares in IPKO - lated the Prime Minister on the Group, which has a lobbying con- each holding between 0.06 and deals reached with Serbia in the tract with Kosovo’s Ministry for 0.02 per cent of shares. EU-led dialogue in Brussels and Economic Development. on the announced end in This is the government depart- Thaci’s US meetings: September to the era of Kosovo’s ment managing the sale of shares “supervised” [internationally in PTK. The office of the Prime mentored] independence. Prishtina Insight previously Minister announced earlier this According to the calendar of revealed that Kosovo signed a year that Hashim Thaci had held US official meetings, Robert contract in March with Podesta an unofficial meeting with the Hormats, vice-secretary for Group for a fee of 50,000-dollars a IPKO has attempted to keep its shareholdings secret former Secretary of State Economy, Energy and month. Serbia's Dacic to Discuss New Kosovo Talks With Ashton EU foreign policy chief is to meet Serbia's leader in September, when a new round of Serbia-Kosovo talks with be high on the agenda. topics will be discussed,” a in March 2011 with the aim of diplomatic source in Brussels normalising tense relations said. between Serbia and its former By Gordana Andric “As she already talked with province, whose independence, Thaci, we expect the dialogue to declared in 2008, it does not recog- reopen soon after the meeting nise. with the Serbian Prime So far the two sides have vica Dacic, Serbia's Prime Minister,” the source added. reached deals on freedom of Minister, will travel to Brussels Aleksandar Vulin, director of movement, mutual recognition of Ion September 4 to meet the EU’s High Representative, the Serbian government’s Office university diplomas and on the Catherine Ashton, to discuss for Kosovo, has already representation of Kosovo at resuming Kosovo-Serbia talks, announced one change, which is regional meetings attended by Balkan Insight has learned. that Kosovo Serbs will in future Serbia. Ashton met Kosovo’s Prime be directly represented in the Talks were put on hold follow- Minister, Hashim Thaci, in late Serbian negotiating team. ing the May general elections in July, when she stated that the “No matter on what level the Serbia, which resulted in the dialogue would resume once a dialogue is led, the Serbs [from Democrats, led by Boris Tadic, new government in Serbia was Kosovo] will have their repre- losing power. Serbian PM Dacic is set to meet EU foreign affairs head Ashton in place. sentative on the negotiating A new government, led by the “After the Ashton-Dacic meet- team and their requirements and more nationalistic Progressive Prime Ministers or Presidents, Belgrade has also stated that all ing we will know more about wishes will be respected,” Vulin Party and the Socialists, has since rather than keeping the talks at arrangements reached by the pre- who Serbia's representatives in said on Wednesday. announced that it intends to the level of envoys, as has been vious Democrat-led government the dialogue will be and what The EU launched the dialogue upgrade the process to the level of the case so far.