Popovic: Most obstacles to providing power to Kosovo Serbs have been overcome

Serbian Press Agency SRNA, Bijeljina, 07-12-2006 17:04:00

 

BELGRADE - Head of the Economic Team for Kosovo and Metohija and South Serbia Nenad Popovic stated that most administrative and legal obstacles for realization of humanitarian delivery of electrical power for Serb communities in Kosovo and Metohija have been overcome during negotiations in Pristina with senior UNMIK officials.

 

"We are one step away from a final solution to the problem. The technical details of the delivery will be resolved by next week through joint work by experts from the Serbian Power and Distribution Company, the Kosovo Energy Corporation and UNMIK, said Popovic, according to the Economic Team's Info Service.

 

Delegations of the Economic Team and Telecom Serbia on one side and UNMIK on the other have remained firm in their earlier positions with respect to the blocking of Telecom Serbia's transmitters.

 

Popovic said that UNMIK representatives, who are insisting that the legal framework for Kosovo and Metohija was changed by the adoption of Resolution 1244, are not accepting the license of Telecom Serbia, for which the company paid 125,000 German marks in 1997, as valid.

 

"Telecom Serbia as a company respects valid regulations in Kosovo and Metohija and wants to emphasize that acquired rights such as those that Telecom Serbia has must also be respected. The company has been carrying out its activities for many years, it employs more than 200 workers in the Province, it has invested great material means and it plans to invest an additional 100 million euros over the next four years in the region of Kosovo and Metohija," said Popovic.

 

The head of the Economic Team for Kosovo and Metohija and South Serbia mentioned that this meeting is only one in a series where legal experts from either side will attempt to reach agreement on interpreting the laws and work out a compromise solution.

 

The delegation of the Economic Team for the meeting in Pristina also included experts from the Ministry of Mining and Energy, the Serbian Power and Distribution Company, and Telecom Serbia.