Kosovo Delays Vote on Wesley Clark Coal Scheme

Kosovo's Parliamentary Commission on Economic Development on Tuesday postponed voting on sending the government's decision to issue a coal research licence to the company Kosovo Energy LLC Envidity for parliamentary approval after opposition MPs demanded more clarity about a scheme that some have described as a virtual monopoly.

"We should not vote on this today, because we do not know the history of this company," Pal Lekaj, an MP from the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK opposition party, said at the commission meeting.

He added that before discussing the government decision, there should be a public debate with the residents of areas that the company wants to explore, as well as a feasibility study.

A BIRN investigation published on Tuesday revealed that Kosovo's government in August approved giving the Canadian-based energy firm Envidity Energy Inc - chaired by retired US General Wesley Clark - the right to search for coal on more than a third of Kosovo's total territory.

The investigation showed that the Kosovo government previously amended the Law on Mining to allow coal research rights to be granted without a public tender, one month before Envidity submitted its request.

While Envidity still has to await approval of the deal by parliament before moving forward with the exploration, some maintain that - by granting the company research rights over such a wide area - Kosovo has effectively given it a monopoly to exploit the country's rich coal reserves.

Kosovo's Finance Minister Avdullah Hoti told the commission however that the implementation of the project would be in Kosovo's economic interests and would create job opportunities.

"According to government estimates, the proposed project represents the public...