The President of the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, Lulzim Rafuna, has reacted to the statement of the acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, where the latter said that it is surprising how someone who was once the Minister of Finance could become the President of the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, reports Ekonomia Online.
This is a statement that Kurti made on the "Politiko" show on Kanal10, when he was told that the Government does not have a good dialogue with the chambers.
"The Kosovo Chamber of Commerce closed the entrances and exits of Pristina on one occasion. This was done by the president of this chamber who was the acting Minister of Finance during the PDK era. This is because the next president of the KCC will be Avni Zogiani, that's how Rafuna is. I don't stop Zogiani, but it won't happen. When you say the Chamber of Commerce, one thinks that there is a diligent entrepreneur there. He was the Minister of Finance. Find me a democratic country where the Minister of Finance becomes the president of the Chamber of Commerce. The Minister of Finance, the President of the KCC, these are perversions in our country, these are perversions that are a backward legacy of the past," Kurti said last night.
But the chairman of the KCC, Lulzim Rafuna, in an interview with Ekonomia Online, found similar examples from Kurti that have occurred in other countries, and also clarified his former position.
"For the sake of fairness, Prime Minister Kurti does not know, but for the sake of fairness to the public, I have never been acting Minister of Finance; I have been an acting Minister, and there is a very big difference between an acting Minister and an acting Minister. I have been an acting Minister who has covered a phase of transition. As for what is not practice, let me give you just two concrete examples, that in many countries of the region and the European Union, ministers are also presidents of chambers. For example, we have the president of the European chambers, who is also the Minister of Economy of the Czech Republic and he is now serving two terms as president of the European chamber; we also have our colleague from the Croatian Chamber of Commerce," he said.
Rafuna underlined that the Chamber he leads is ready to create partnerships with Kosovo institutions.
"So it is a very good and great practice and opportunity for a chamber president to come from public institutions, because he serves as a mediator and a bridge between the private sector and public institutions: both to advocate for the interests of the private sector, and to be a very good partner due to the knowledge he has in public institutions, to assist them and the executive in advancing policies for the economic development of the country. I am very happy with where we have reached with the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce and, I emphasize responsibly, the chamber is almost 24 hours a day, seven days a week, a partner of the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo for the good of the country's economy", he emphasized.
The KCC chairman said that there has been no dialogue with the government for a long time.
"For a long time, we have not had a dialogue with the government and there has been a lack of public-private dialogue. Despite the lack of dialogue, we have tried through the media to convey our demands, to alert the government to address a policy that has not been good, and that could have negatively affected businesses, such as the electricity industry, and we have found other forms of communication to send to the government whether that policy is valid or not," he said.
Rafuna also spoke about the challenges businesses have faced, mentioning the issue of electricity.
"Business, we are witnesses, has faced problems such as the issue of electricity, the lack of functional institutions, where 1 billion euros of international agreements remain in the Kosovo Assembly unratified; then many funds that we were supposed to receive we were unable to receive due to sanctions from the European Union, where the Chamber of Commerce will address Commissioner Kaja Kallas to remove these measures against Kosovo. It has not been a very good year for Kosovo businesses and I am proud that, despite the challenges, business has stood its ground, economic development, and has advanced in integration into the European Union", he added.
