Privatization of POEs in Kosovo - Case Study: Post and Telecom of Kosovo

• Author: Agron Mustafa - Afrim Loku
• Pages: 153-165

Vol. 3 No. 3

November 2017

ISSN 2410-3918

Acces online at www.iipccl.org

153

Academic Journal of Business, Administration, Law and Social Sciences

IIPCCL Publishing, Graz-Austria

Privatization of POEs in Kosovo – Case Study: Post and Telecom of Kosovo

Msc. Agron Mustafa

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Afrim Loku

Abstract

The Republic of Kosovo is Europe’s youngest country – and one of its poorest – but it has

maintained positive economic growth rates, most recently 3.6 percent in 2016. Kosovo is

working to improve the investment climate by strengthening the legal environment necessary

to a ract and retain foreign investment.

Kosovo is comparatively small country located in the South-East Europe. It has a population of

approximately 1.8 million, with 49.53 percent male and 50.47 percent female, and percentage

of people living in rural areas 61%.

In the economic transformation processes, the privatization is conceptualized not only as

an ownership change but also as the only alternative that will ensure the e ective function

of acts for all “market stakeholders”, private or public in order to ensure loyal competition

between them. Main objective of this manuscript is the analysis of the stagnation of the Post

Telecommunications privatization process, and its negative e ect in the economic expansion

of Kosovo.

Keywords: POE’s, Privatization, Kosovo, Post and Telecom.

Introduction

The high rate of unemployment among the youth population might have a ected to

some extent their self-confi dence, as they have not been provided an opportunity to

demonstrate their skills and talents. As a result, many of them are discouraged and

seek to work outside Kosovo. The general high rate of unemployment, moreover, has

led to a high poverty rate. In Kosovo, around 34.5 percent of the population lives in

poverty, and around 12.1 percent lives in extreme poverty with less than €1 per day

(Kosovo Agency of Statistics, 2015). The main reason behind these discouraging fi g-

ures is linked to weak private sector development and low capital investments. The

majority of Kosovo businesses provide jobs that require only low-level skills – this

also has some e ect on the motivation of workers to pursue proper education (Riin-

vest Institute, 2014). Additionally, the few businesses that need advanced skills report

that the universities and colleges in Kosovo do not link their curriculum e ectively

with the skills needed by the market; therefore, students equipped with diplomas

from these institutions do not meet their demands.

Also Kosovo is a poor country with many problems and di culties. Immediately af-

ter the War and the entry of KFOR forces, Kosovo entered the direct transition phase.

Therefore, Kosovo as a new country is facing a very wrecked and inherited economy

and is going through a very di cult post transition phase, with a empts to transi-

tion from the type command economy to free market economy. The liberalization of