Kosovo Parliament to Debate Trepca Law Despite Protests

Kosovo's parliament on Friday is to start debating the draft law on transforming the Trepca mining and industrial processing complex into a shareholding company.

The debate starts almost two years after the government withdrew the draft law from parliament due to opposition protests.

The objective is to prevent Trepca's liquidation, looming on November 1, and transform it into a shareholder company in which the government will control 80 per cent of shares, while 20 per cent will remain in the property of the workers.

The government approved the revised draft on Wednesday amid protests by opposition MPs as well as Kosovo Serb members of the cabinet, Kosovo Serb miners and Belgrade.

Opposition parties have protested about the time left available to study the draft before the first reading.

The plenary session will be held only two days after approval by the government.

Kosovo Serbian miners on Thursday meanwhile blocked the road between Pristina and Raska in Serbia in protest against the draft.

Kosovo Serb representatives in the government have complained that they were not consulted about the law and will not vote for it unless "essential changes" are made.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Branimir Stojanovic, a Kosovo Serb, told the government meeting on Wednesday that the process is driven more by politics than economics and - as such - it "will fall in the political field".

Stojanovic insisted that the current version can only be brought to a "level of acceptability" if "essential changes are approved in the assembly." Otherwise, he said, Kosovo Serb MPs will not support the law in the assembly.

Serbian officials have supported the claim that Kosovo Serbs were not consulted in drafting the law.

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