Travellers between Kosovo’s capital Prishtina and neighbouring Macedonia will have an easier time after the completion of a planned highway that will link the two destinations.

Kosovo’s government will announce next week a tender for the construction of a highway from Prishtina to Macedonia, the Macedonian newspaper Utrinski Vesti reported. Fatmir Limaj, Kosovo’s Minister of Transport and Telecommunication, who made the announcement during a meeting with his Macedonian counterpart, Mile Janakieski, also said that there will be two new border control points between the two territories.

Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi has blocked 17 single-source tenders at the Kosovo Power Corporation (KEK), which were previously allowed by the UNMIK chief, German Joachim Rücker.

Prishtinë - The Kosovo Government is not turning down the option of privatising Kosovo Energy Company (Korporata Energjetike e Kosovës - KEK). Deputy Minister of Energy and Mining, Blerim Rexha, stated the Government is collecting facts to find a better model of privatisation than the one proposed by the KEK management. In addition to this he stated that KEK is like a damaged car and the Government has two exit roads: “to sell it as a scrap metal or to repair it and sell it in a better state”.

Prishtina, UNMIK/Kosovo Customs Service has collected over €520 million for the Kosovo Budget during the past year, which is €80 million more than the same period of the previous year.

“During 2007, Customs has successfully prevented the smuggling of different products. We have also decreased the fiscal evasion from the Northern part of Kosovo,” said Adriatik Stavileci, Customs Spokesperson.

He added that most of the incomes come from import of gas, oil, cigarettes and alcohol. According to the Customs data, for the period January-November 2007, Kosovo imported 326 million litres of oil and its products.

ECIKS