Thursday, October 21, 2004

Breaking News -  UNMIK cancels Kosovo mobile operator tender - Slovene agency

1 comment:

KosovaReport said...

Just hours after Slovene mobile operator Mobitel announced it had signed a concession contract with the Kosovo government and become the second operator in the province, the UN Mission to Kosovo (UNMIK) announced it is cancelling the tender process.

According to Soeren Jessen-Petersen, the head of the UNMIK mission, UNMIK deems as invalid and without legal effect all actions, agreements and decisions related to the bid, according to the Associated Press.

The order, signed on Wednesday [20 October], said the bidding process would be relaunched in a "transparent and flawless manner".

The decision was announced shortly after the Kosovo Agency for Telecommunications signed the concession contract earlier today with Mobitel and its local partner Mobikos, a deal worth 6.5m euros.

Mobitel won the tender, but the result was disputed by UNMIK, which claims that an audit has shown irregularities in the selection process.

Kosovo Minister of Transport and Communications Zef Morina annulled the tender in mid-August at the initiative of the acting head of UNMIK, Charles Brayshaw.

After disputes over who is in charge of the tender, UNMIK or the government, the Agency for Telecommunications and the ministry proceeded with the signing.

Source: STA news agency, Ljubljana, in English 1303 gmt 21 Oct 04