Just another day at the office...

Well the one thing I can say about my job here is that it gets me out from behind my desk and allows me to have some very interesting encounters, slightly different from some of those I would experience in Washington DC. And one can always count on most meetings and conferences being accompanied by a several hour meal and depending on location and audience, may include the mandatory shot of local brew raki.

Sure, we actually do do some work in the field although since I am the marketing and trade guy, I usually ponder the question of 'how the &%$& are we going to be able to sell this product'. Kosovo is challenged by a history of 50 plus years of a socialistic economy where marketing did not exist. They produced. The state bought and sold. Marketing, if you get something other than a blank stare, is sales in their mind. When you inquire about who their consumers are or what they want they respond 'this...' and show you their product. There are of course exceptions to this rule and we are fortunate enough to be working with a number of these clients who are trying to improve the quality of their product, increase their supply chain, and consider launching new products that their customers might like.




I had the opportunity to visit the Northern territory of Kosovo which is 100% Serbian. To the extent that the Kosovar cell phones won't work, you have to remove the license plate on your car if it has KS on it and everything is purchased with Serbian dinars. This area is know as a minority region and is particularly sad because the people have basically been abandoned by everyone. The Albanian Kosovars (and Pristina government) don't tend to any of their needs and the government from Belgrade offers little more than a scant pension check to provide maybe 20euros a month...The dire situation hit me flat in the face as I entered several shops (the largest markets) to interview the managers and get a better understanding of the products they sold and the needs of their consumers. These 'supermarkets' were half the size of your average 7-Eleven and both the random assortment of products and the amount of empty shelves reminded me of Moscow in 1993. This shops only purchase the bare essentials and have to compete with a mostly 'grey' economy where a ton of local kiosks have popped up everywhere to sell the same products, closer to peoples home at cheaper prices since they don't pay any taxes.




Of course most people seem to be holding their breath to see how the status situation is resolved out here so they can either have their allegiance and territory claimed by Belgrade or get some other kind of official status or recognition which they pray will bring in development AID assistance to help them get on with their lives and start to catch up to the rest of the Balkans. Stay tuned since the UN's official status recommendation paper is to be released this Friday. KFOR will be on high alert as I vacate Pristina to enjoy my first weekend in Belgrade.