Kosovo Offers 12 Firms for Sale

The Kosovo Trust Agency (KTA), charged with the privatisation process in the U.N.-run province of Kosovo, said on Monday it launched the sale of 12 companies.

The companies are involved in everything from mining to yarn and are being offered as part of the eighth privatisation wave, the KTA said.

Three of the companies - a textile manufacturer, pipe factory and mining company - will be sold through special spin-offs. The procedure requires additional investment and employment guarantees.

The first bid day for the KosovaTex textile manufacturer was set for October 12. The second bid day will take place one week later, KTA said.

The first and the second bid days for both the Xim Strezovci pipe factory and Goleshi Mines will be held on January 11 and 18, respectively.

The remaining nine companies will be sold through ordinary spin-offs. The pre-qualification deadline for the nine firms was set for October 5 and bid day for October 12, the KTA said.

KTA ( www.kta-kosovo.org ) so far has sold around 40 of the 500 companies it has on its privatisation list.

KTA's efforts to boost the economy in the province of two million people and create new job has been hampered by Kosovo's unclear status.

Kosovo has been under U.N. administration since 1999 following the NATO bombing campaign to halt Serb repression of the ethnic Albanian majority in the province.