Prishtina Insight #111

Opinion: Good News for Kosovo and the Rule of Law May 10 - 23, 2013 Issue No. 111 www.prishtinainsight.com Price € 1 INVESTIGATION Car Pollution Checks Fall By the Wayside > page 2 BUSINESS PTK Buyer Spies Gold in Call Centres > page 3 NEWS Macabre Network Serbs Face Phased Transition to After convictions in the Medicus Kosovo Rule organ trafficking case, EULEX vows to press on with a new investigation. Meanwhile, the prosecutor speaks out. Plus, see how the clinic brought together buyers and sellers of kidneys > page 5 from Europe, Asia and North America. NEIGHBOURHOOD pages 10 - 13 Croatia’s EU Benefits Tempt Bosnian Youth Kosovo Prepares to Legalize > page 8 INSIDE PRISHTINA Organ Transplants Nothing Fishy Bill offers hope for patients who must go abroad for new organs – but concerns remain about granting licenses to pri- About Detari’s Fish vate medical centres in the light of the Medicus case. dialysis,” he said. afford the 18,000-euro price. ple guilty for their roles in carry- By Visar Duriqi E.K. even has a potential donor: “It’s hard. The situation is seri- ing out dozens of illegal kidney his mother. ous for all the family. I’m practical- transplants in the clinic on the He sent a request to the Ministry ly non-functional, but family mem- outskirts of Prishtina. > page 21 .K. has failing kidneys and of Health for an operation, one of bers take care of me,” he said. The clinic lured poor people needs a transplant. 12 people to seek transplants this “It is very difficult especially from Eastern Europe and Central EThe young man from Prishtina, who spoke on condition year. He never heard back. when you know that all this suffer- Asia with the promise of big pay- that his full name was not dis- The operation cannot take place ing is because we do not have the offs for selling their kidneys. The closed, gets dialysis each week to in Kosovo in any case because no funds for a transplant,” E.K. said. recipients, mostly from Israel, Kosovo’s only English-language filter his blood. law is in place governing organ E.K’s situation is ironical given paid much bigger sums for the newspaper is available: “I’m 19 years old and it’s hard to transplants. the aftermath of the convictions new organs. force myself to go to hospital every He looked at having it done in in the so-called Medicus case. Delivered to week and stay there for hours on Macedonia. But his family cannot Last week, courts found five peo- continues page 11 Your Door Hive Giveaway a Honeypot Turkish Soap Operas Bewitch From Newsstands for Municipal Workers The Balkans across Kosovo rishtina had quite the offer for the urn on the TV in any part of the Sent To aspiring beekeeper: Two hives with Balkans today and you may well tune Your Inbox Pbees and specialized equipment, Tinto a Turkish soap opera. including masks, gloves and a tool the col- Booming in popularity across the region, lect the honey - all for free. The idea, offi- according to media research agencies, From cially, was to increase the number of bee- dozens of these imports are being screened our partners keepers in Prishtina. daily on televisions from ... inside prishtina page 22 culture page 7 see page 16 for more info is supported by: 2 May 10 - 23, 2013 investigation The average age of cars in Kosovo is around 17 years old. (Photo/Nate Tabak) Car Pollution Checks Fall by the Wayside The government still hasn’t followed through on the Prime Minister’s order to carry out mandatory exhaust checks. Department of Vehicles in the the number at nearly 400,000. Ministry of Infrastructure, which Shatri said his department is tasked with implementing the would begin testing in September, By Jeton Musliu order. but it’s unclear what, if any, steps Thaci’s directive would in theo- have been taken. ry put Kosovo on a similar footing He said checking and enforcing as the EU, where cars face regular emissions was contingent on year and a half after the tests to ensure that their emis- checks on fuel standards, which he Prime Minister signed a sions fall within designated limits. claimed is not happening. Aregulation, vehicles on Mirroring EU regulations, the “Without checking the oil, it’s very Kosovo roads continue to generate directive categorizes cars into five dangerous to start checking the growing amounts of pollutants groupings based on age. Each emissions,” Shatri said. that pose a danger to public health. group has set limits for particular Officials of the Ministry of Hashim Thaci signed an admin- pollutants. Trade and Industry, which over- istrative Instruction on “Allowed Such testing is especially rele- sees oil standards, said there are Norms of Gas Emissions” on vant to older vehicles that predate strict controls on fuel in Kosovo. December 22, 2011. contemporary emissions stan- “Oil is imported to Kosovo entirely Mandating emissions testing as dards and are more likely to have in conformity to European stan- part of regular vehicle registra- mechanical issues that affect dards,” Arta Istrefi, a ministry tion, the directive called for the exhaust. spokeswoman, said. establishment of 86 centres to test Cars in Kosovo are 17 years old Oil products are checked at bor- vehicle exhaust. That has not hap- on average, according to govern- der points and subjected to further University of Prishtina professor Bashkim Baxhaku says car pollution in Kosovo is similar pened. ment figures. The Interior controls inside the country. to what the EU had 15 years ago. (Photo/Jeton Musliu) “Why hasn’t the instruction Ministry did not disclose figures “Internally the control is done by been implemented? I don’t know,” on car registrations, but a 2009 sampling oil in the sales point in Meanwhile, public health improve the environment,” said Nebih Shatri, head of the University of Prishtina study put accordance with the annual plan authorities are alarmed by the Ramadani added. of monitoring under the supervi- recent increase in pollutants There is no hard data on pollu- sion of the Market Inspectorate,” related to car exhaust. tion generated by vehicles. But a Istrefi said. The National Institute of 2009 study by two professors at There is also some confusion Public Health reports that since the University of Prishtina, about the stamps foreseen to cer- 2009, daytime levels of nitrous Bashkim Baxhaku and Hajredin tify that cars have passed their oxide and sulfur dioxide - com- Tytyri, said Kosovo was signifi- emissions tests. monly produced through vehicle cantly worse off than its neigh- Shatri said he did not know emissions - have doubled or bours and the EU. whether this was the responsibil- tripled, especially in Prishtina. “EU countries had the results ity of the Ministry of “In Western states this would we have today on car pollution Infrastructure or the Ministry of cause alarm,” Naser Ramadani, back in 1995”, Baxhaku told the Environment and Spatial director of the National Institute Prishtina Insight recently. “If we Planning. of Public Health, said. look at the region, they are “The main responsibility for During the same period, deaths around five years ahead of us.” implementing this guideline falls caused by pollution-linked ill- Shatri, of the Ministry of on the Ministry of nesses, such as certain respirato- Infrastructure, acknowledged Infrastructure,” Ilir Mirena, ry and circulatory diseases, and that emissions controls would be deputy environment minister, various cancers, have increased, a good thing for everyone. claimed. Ramadani noted. “Of course, regulating the gas The office of the Prime “There’s no question that gases emissions would improve the are among the causes of these environment because emissions Nebih Shatri, head of the Department of Vehicles in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Minister did not respond to diseases, and decreasing emis- would be in line with European offered no concrete explanation for why Kosovo cars aren't getting mandatory emissions Prishtina Insight’s questions testing. (Photo/Jeton Musliu) about its emissions directive. sions would undoubtedly standards,” he said. Y M C K Automobiles are a growing contributor to Prishtina's abominable air quality. (Photo/Jeton Musliu) business May 10 - 23, 2013 3 PTKPTK BuyerBuyer SpiesSpies GoldGold inin CallCall CentresCentres Telecom could become lead player in small but burgeoning industry in Kosovo, which is tapping the low-wage, multi- lingual workforce. By Liridona Hyseni pponents of the privatisa- The European call centre mar- tion of the state telecom ket is expected to reach a value of Ofirm, PTK, have long said $22.5 billion by 2017, up from $18.3 that the sale would lead to massive billion in 2010, according to a 2011 layoffs. study by the firm Frost & Sullivan. But after ACP Axos Capital Kosovo is trying to capture a made its winning bid for a 75 per piece of that growth. cent stake in PTK in April, the “Kosovo offers a young and qual- German firm boldly stated that it ified workforce,” said Valdrin would, in fact, create “employ- Lluka, chief executive of the ment opportunities for thousands Investment Promotion Agency of of Kosovo’s citizens”. Kosovo. Without providing specifics, Kosovo’s young workforce also ACP Axos Capital said it would earn a fraction of their counter- create the new jobs by establishing parts in Western Europe; the aver- “call centers for technical support age monthly wage is only around to European companies.” 300 euro. Many also speak foreign Establishing PTK as an out- languages, including English and sourcing centre would tap into a German. nascent industry in Kosovo. Arian Zeka, executive director The Investment Promotion at the American Chamber of Agency of Kosovo, in its 2011 to Commerce, said call centres offer a A call centre in Costa Rica could offer a preview of what’s in store for Kosovo’s PTK.

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