Privatization in post-war Kosovo: Legal review

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Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to analyze privatization in Kosovo as a complex legal process of redistribution of social wealth to private individuals or certain enterprises. The privatization process in Kosovo cannot be compared with the privatizations of countries in the region due to its economic and political specifics, as a country with economies in transition and high levels of corruption (Borošak, 2018). To study this phenomenon, we will analyze the data published by the complaints received from the Kosovo Trust Agency (KTA) the decisions of the Special Chamber as well as the judgments of the Special Chamber for human rights. Data analysis concludes on descriptive statistics, analysis of domestic laws, and regulations of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), reports from the World Bank, processed cases, and Special Chamber court decisions on privatizations. The study concludes that the process of privatization of socially owned property has caused conflicts between the descendants as property owners before their confiscation, privatization has further destroyed the country’s economic development rather than improving the well-being and lives of its citizens. This paper is of great importance for policy makers, officials, scholars as the processing, publication of data, and sanctioning will enable this phenomenon that has become a new way of enrichment to be stopped and the state to be built for society and to belong to society.

Keywords: Privatization, Socially Owned Enterprises, Kosovo Privatization Agency, Special Chamber, Legislation, Regulations, UNMIK

Authors’ individual contribution: The Author is responsible for all the contributions to the paper according to CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) standards.

Declaration of conflicting interests: The Author declares that there is no conflict of interest.

JEL Classification: K10, K20, K30

Received: 13.09.2021
Accepted: 18.01.2022
Published online: 21.01.2022

How to cite this paper: Ibraimi, X. (2022). Privatization in post-war Kosovo: Legal review. Journal of Governance & Regulation, 11(1), 112–124. https://doi.org/10.22495/jgrv11i1art11