POLICY AND MONITORING UNIT OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISE

1. May Kosovo municipalities establish publicly-owned enterprises?Yes, after the adoption of Law No. 04/L-111 on amendment and supplementation of Law No. 03/L-087 on Publicly-Owned Enterprises, municipalities are entitled to establish local publicly-owned enterprises, in accordance with the criteria set in the sublegal act issued by the Government. The set criteria include reasonable requests for operational and financial sustainability.

2. How are members of the Boards of Directors of publicly-owned enterprises selected?Selection of the members of Boards of Directors is conducted in a transparent and public manner, through an open announcement and in compliance with Article 15 of the Law on Publicly-Owned Enterprises No. 03/L-087.

3. Who appoints members of the Boards of Directors of publicly-owned enterprises?In central publicly-owned enterprises, appointments are made by a special decision of the Government of Kosovo; whereas, in local publicly-owned enterprises, their appointment is made by the Shareholder’s Committee.

4. How many members do the Boards of Directors of publicly-owned enterprises have?Boards of Directors of central publicly-owned enterprises may have 5 or 7 members, while those of local publicly-owned enterprises have 5 members.

5. How are members of the Boards of Directors remunerated for their work?Directors will be remunerated a basic per diem. The basic per diem for POE directors will be determined:
(i) by means of a written decision of the Government of Kosovo for central POEs, and
(ii) by a decision of the respective Committee(s) of municipal shareholders for local POEs. The basic per diem for directors of local POEs shall not exceed the compensation set by the Government for directors of central POEs.

6. Who supervises the work of the Boards of Directors of central publicly-owned enterprises?Shareholder(s) of a POE exercise continuous and rigorous supervision over the activities of POE Boards of Directors and Audit Committees, through the Publicly-Owned Enterprises Policy and Monitoring Unit.

7. Is the efficiency of the Boards of Directors of publicly-owned enterprises evaluated?The POE Policy and Monitoring Unit evaluates the efficiency of directors of each POE on annual basis. All POE officials and directors ensure full cooperation with the POE Policy and Monitoring Unit in conducting any such evaluation.

8. What are the main responsibilities of the Boards of Directors of publicly-owned enterprises?The main responsibility of the Board of Directors is monitoring the implementation of the business plan, which is adopted by the Board itself.

9. Can the Government or Ministry elect or dismiss the executive-managing director of a publicly-owned enterprise?No. The election and dismissal of the senior officials in publicly-owned enterprises, including the managing director, is conducted by the Board of Directors of the respective enterprise.

10. Who is considered to be part of the senior management of publicly-owned enterprises, which operates under the responsibility of the Board of Directors and Audit Committee?Senior management of publicly-owned enterprises includes the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, POE Secretary and Internal Auditor.

11. Who establishes the Publicly-Owned Enterprises Policy and Monitoring Unit and where does this unit function?The POE Policy and Monitoring Unit (POE Unit) will be established from the Minister, under the auspices of the Ministry of Economic Development, with the aim of supporting the Minister and Government in discharging their responsibilities in relation to the POEs, as entitled by law.

12. How will the work of Boards of Directors be rigorously supervised?Obligations pertaining to supervision, as established by this Article, shall not be exercised in any manner that intervenes, or aims to intervene with the activities or independence of the given POE’s Board of Directors or Audit Committee.

13. Do Publicly-Owned Enterprises report about their work and who do they report to?Publicly-Owned Enterprises report through their Boards of Directors to the POE Policy and Monitoring Unit, within 60 days after the elapse of each quarter and within 75 days upon the elapse of each calendar year.

14. Do Publicly-Owned Enterprises report to the public-shareholders?The Government is accountable to the Assembly regarding the manner in which it, the Ministry and POE Policy and Monitoring Unit exercise their competencies and responsibilities granted through the respective law. The Government reports on annual basis on the performance of all respective authorizations and responsibilities, as well as on the accomplishment of objectives determined in the ownership policies, determined in Article 6.1 of this law. The Government will provide the public and Assembly with quantitative and reliable data on the manner in which the management of central POE’s served the interest of the Republic of Kosovo.

15. Can shares of publicly-owned enterprises be sold – privatized?Shares of a central POE can be sold freely, if the Government adopts a written decision which authorizes a Government Privatization Committee to proceed with the tendering and sale of shares, subject to the decision adopted by a simple majority of votes of the Assembly of Kosovo. Upon the adoption of this decision by the Government and its endorsement by the Assembly, the Government Privatization Committee is authorized to conduct a tendering procedure and sell the shares at stake.

16. Can a concession be granted over a publicly-owned enterprise?Yes. Publicly-owned enterprises can be granted through a concession, but the procedure has to be initiated through a Government Decision, monitored by an inter-ministerial committee and conducted in conformity with the Law on PPPs and Law on Public Procurement.