The Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade, Mrs. Rozeta Hajdari, held a press conference today, with the topic:
LEGALITY OF BUSINESSES REGISTRATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO
The full speech of Minister Hajdari:
Greetings dear journalists!
Thank you for coming to follow this press conference!
Greetings to our fellow Citizens,
The purpose of this conference is to inform you and the public about the latest issues concerning the legality of business registration in the Republic of Kosovo.
I am aware that some of you consider the case of the cancellation of the Klan Kosova L.L.C. business certificate to be an issue of concern. I understand your concern and particularly of the workers working for Klan Kosova medium, however it is very important to assure you that the suspension of the Klan Kosova L.L.C. business certificate is not intended to set limits on freedom of speech, freedom of expression and the work of the media in our country, but only to implement the legitimate requirements of the Constitution and laws.
Hence, the only purpose of the KBRA administrative process, in the case of Klan Kosova L.L.C. and other businesses that have been identified, has been nothing more and nothing less than the law enforcement.
Allegations that the MIET has acted with the purpose of limiting the freedom of the media or with any political background are tendentious and completely untrue.
MIET is committed to implementing and respecting without compromise, without exception and without discrimination the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Kosovo.
The Klan Kosova L.L.C. case and the other 48 cases that unfortunately we have identified so far, are exclusively related to the KBRA businesses registration administrative issues; so to be clear:
During the submission of the request for business registration, the companies in question presented documents with unconstitutional content, in which case the Kosovo cities are presented as part of Serbia.
Due to this reason, the Klan Kosova L.L.C. certificate was initially suspended, and the business in question filed a complaint, in which case the Commission for Review of Business Registration Appeals, after verifying all the available documentation for Klan Kosova L.L.C., found that the first instance decision was fair and in full compliance with the laws in force in the Republic of Kosovo.
This took place after the Commission has obtained the current documentation from the relevant institution in North Macedonia for the "True Owners of the Subject", in which documentation it has found that Kosovo is again presented as part of Serbia.
Based on the documentation obtained from the North Macedonia business register and the KBRA business register files, the Commission has rejected the complaint submitted by the party in the proceeding, confirming the violation of the Constitution that KBRA found at the first instance.
Each party in the proceeding has the right to appeal against the KBRA decisions. However, the violations of the Constitution can never be considered as "technical" issues.
In order to ensure the legality of business registration in the Republic of Kosovo, after the reverification and suspension of Klan Kosova L.L.C. and ARTMOTION L.L.C. business certificates that submitted a complaint against the KBRA decision, the Commission for Review of Business Registration Appeals, the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade (MIET) have not stopped only with these two cases.
On July 6, 2023, the MIET also established the Commission for reverification of Kosovo Business Registration Agency (KBRA) files, in particular those with suspicious documentation and unconstitutional designations.
During July, from 10.07.2023 until 19.07.2023, the Commission has verified 660 files of businesses registered in KBRA. The focus of the reverification process has been the files that mainly presented the personal document with the column country/state of birth, or current residence with unconstitutional designations.
As a result of the reverification process of files, the Commission has found that, in 48 files of businesses registered in KBRA, there are unconstitutional names, where in the column country/state of birth or current residence is written: "Prishtina – Kosovo Metohija, Serbia", "Pejë – Republic of Serbia", "Gjilan – Serbia" "Gjakova – Republic of Serbia" etc.
Immediately after receiving the Commission's report, the KBRA yesterday initiated the administrative actions envisaged by law (Article 10 of the Law on Business Organizations; Articles 57 and 58 of the Law on Administrative Procedure), issuing decisions to revoke the certificates of 5 businesses out of 48 businesses with unconstitutional names.
In the documentation of the owners or authorized representatives, these 5 businesses have the following unconstitutional content: "Gnjilane – Serbia"; "Pristina – Serbia"; "Djakovica – Serbia"; "Kosovska Mitrovica – Serbia". The businesses in question are active in purchase and sale of personal real estate, retail trade, construction of residential and non-residential buildings and cable telecommunications.
The KBRA will continue issuing decisions against other businesses that have committed the same violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo.
Let me also inform you that, in addition to these measures against businesses, the criminal charges against the responsible persons of the companies and responsible officials in KBRA have been initiated, as well as disciplinary procedures against the KBRA officials.