Privatization agency extends deadline for bids for Kosovo's biggest hotel, brewery

Associated Press, Jan 13, 2006 10:09 AM

 

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro-Kosovo's privatization agency said Friday it has extended the deadline for bids for the province's biggest hotel and several other companies by nearly a month.

 

The Kosovo Trust Agency, a U.N.-run entity guiding privatization in the province, extended bidding for several companies including Grand Hotel Pristina, Pec Brewery, Orahovac winery and vineyards and a magnesite mine, a statement from the agency said.

 

The agency gave potential investors several months to bid when it first advertised the companies for sale in August and October last year. It has now set the next bidding days on Feb. 15 and 22, the statement said.

 

Agency officials said the deadline was extended after interested bidders demanded more time to do their research.

 

Privatization is among the most sensitive issues in Kosovo, which was placed under U.N. administration in mid-1999 following NATO air strikes that ended a Serb crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.

 

The privatization process is complicated by the uncertainty over whether Kosovo will become independent or remain part of Serbia-Montenegro, the successor state of Yugoslavia. Serbia's authorities have fiercely opposed the privatizations.

 

Kosovo's authorities are eager to sell assets and companies to open investment opportunities and create jobs in the impoverished province.