What does Todd Really Do?

Besides traveling, exploring and adventuring? I actually do have a purpose for being in Kosovo beyond the clean air and raging nightlife. Lets see if I can explain this in English (not because everyone here speaks Albanian but because there are enough acronyms in this line of work to actually be its own language). In a nutshell, my project is trying to help stimulate local economic development in the private sector. Due to the mostly rural environment this primarily falls into the exciting industries of growing and harvesting fruits and vegetables or working with the dairy sector milking cows and producing dairy based products. We do a little on the side with construction materials, wood flooring and even asphalt laying.

And what do I do for the project actually never having grown a vegetable or milked a cow? Well, I like to think a bit of post harvest marketing and linkages to actually get the products sold so the locals can have a livelihood and continue to develop their businesses. This is very slow and painful process since to begin with, most of the local product quality does not stand up to the flood of imported products being sold. Second, very few companies or people understand or recognize the value of marketing. Third, any domestic or regional sales are mostly based on personal connections AND there is general mistrust in the Balkans for doing business with Albanians (Kosovars). Beyond all this, no problem.

My team is the Marketing and Trade Linkages group (original huh?). Well aside from a good size collection of small deals and projects that we work on in each sector (entirely other teams working with the technical side of our project), we produced the first Marketing & Linkages Conference in Kosovo last week which brought together about 200 local retailer operators, producers processors, traders, wholesalers, donor groups, associations and marketing agencies. It was held in the only venue large enough known as the Grand which is an old Socialist hotel that was recently privatized but has yet to reflect any improvements. I was able to bring in some very well known and reputable regional retail chains to share their insights and words of advice with our infant industry in Kosovo. All and all the conference was very well received and we believe that not only did the attendees hopefully learn a new thing or two about how to improve their business but they met a couple new business prospects.



Although I have done similar events to this in the past, I learned very quickly that Kosovo once again provides a unique environment to operate in. For example, each of the 13 presentations had to be translated and edited for English, Albanian and Serbian (which means 39 versions). Not to mention most of the speakers are not very good (understatement) at using powerpoint so I had to edit each one increasing font size, altering layouts etc. The problem was that since a majority were not in English, I could not actually comment or edit the text. And then once it was translated if we needed to make edits we would have to do it 3 different times.



And of course there are the obligatory opening remarks by VIP's and government officials. Our keynote Deputy Minister of Ag. bailed at the last minute so we got his assistant who proceeded to talk 10 minutes over his allotted time about nothing related to the topics at hand. And then there is the attention span. Apparently most of the audience could hold it together for about a half hour before they get fidgety, start talking, leave the room, or take their cell phone calls. This attention deficit was magnified by the fact that once I fed them their free lunch, about 3/4 of the conference left leaving only a handful for the final excellent panel discussion. And you could forget about getting any supplies from the hotel. They don't even have a copy machine. All the projectors, computers, translation equipment, speakers, microphones etc were brought in from outside companies. They did however provide the food, drinks and little snacks which were much appreciated. Can't say much for the quality of the local wine though.



So all things aside, several of the Ministers said it was one of the best events they have ever attended. USAID made opening remarks with the Mission Director and appeared to be very interested in the guest presentations made during the morning sessions. As for me, 3 months of planning and logistics were rewarded by my failed attempt to snowboard (see earlier blog posting). And there you have it. I guess an event in the life...

Letting Go of the Past

I did not realize the true depth of Albanian vs. Serbian animosity till I visited the Kosovar town of Skenderaj to see the UCK memorial dedicated to the killing of an entire 'militant' family (22 members) by the Serbian troops during the war in 1999. I have seen many war memorials before but not ones that have attempted to build an entire theme park around it (little more than a model and parking lot foundation have been built) and that have left the site as close to its original state as possible. As the story goes the head members of this family were all leaders in the UCK army that was fighting for Kosovo's independence. Serbian troops had tracked down their family compound and launched a 3 day assault with an extremely large number of troops and munitions against this one family, which stood strong. Men, women and children were all killed and their bodies have since been buried across the street with full time honor guards standing out in the cold and bitter winds. I never understood this logic anywhere but I am thankful that it is not I standing like a statue.

A visitor shed sells all types of propaganda surrounding the family, the fighting, the war, etc. in all language. The 3 homes of the compound have been left pretty much in tact from the days of the fighting. Matter of fact, a grotesque system of scaffolding has propped up most of the walls and provided support for a large tin roof to prevent too much decay of the structures. The point is very successfully made that an awesome amount of firepower was used to kill this family. Very hard to imagine what exactly happened during those 3 days as we walked and drove around the peaceful and pretty countryside that still shows obvious signs of neither forgiving or forgetting the atrocities of the past.

A Weekend only in Kosovo...

It began with me rewarding myself by taking a day off work for a 'job well done' in successfully producing a Marketing and Trade Linkages Conference (separate posting). It ended with my worst day here...

A final blast of winter rolled through our area this week dumping 60cm of fresh powder in the mountains by Thursday night so a friend and decided to hit the slopes before anyone else carved up the ungroomed slopes. Leaving bright and early on Friday we were greeted by a ton of snow on the unploughed mountain road leading up to the lifts. In her 4 wheel Subaru we had no problem making all the way up to a waiting line of cars stuck behind a US Military bus that way stuck taking soldiers up for a day of R&R. At least the boys were resourceful enough to take 40 minutes and chain up the first bus only to be stopped 5 more minutes up the road by their second bus of kids they were hosting for a weekend camp. No chains required that bus to be careful manoeuvred back down the hill through a snow bank onto the side so all else could pass. So over an hour later we arrived at an empty mountain town with snow up to our thighs and thick flakes still falling...

Salivating we geared up and headed to the lifts, where we were told nothing was working because of too much snow and not enough people...Of course, why would they actually operate a ski resort on the single best day of skiing and snow they have had all season?? In absolute frustration I hiked up one of the slopes they had started to groom and boarded down once on top (and underneath) the fresh fluffy stuff. Almost too much powder and too short a run to get the hang of what it was like to board on something other than hard pack and ice (for the last 3 years). Not wanting to surrender we went to the only nice restaurant to get a warm bowl of Serbian soup and wait it out till they might change their mind. No luck so we acknowledged defeat and headed back to drive home. As if the point needed to be made that we had wasted our day off, there had been a fender-bender between two cars on the road which by Kosovo law requires you to not move the vehicles till the police arrive...up an unploughed mountain road. Almost three hours later they let traffic move again and in reality they had never even pushed the cars off the road...we just drove next to them. So we had waited for no reason other than to let the police tell us we could drive past. AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

Of course there was an element of humor to the day. For example seeing the old Jetta Golfs with no chains but 4 guys sitting in the truck to weight the car down so it might make it up the hill. Or a station wagon trying to pass all the waiting cars on the left where there was an unploughed lane. Of course getting stuck and requiring the soldiers to push it out. So, my 'holiday' was 8 hours in a car with no boarding and more frustrations than going to work...how nice. And to top it off everyone was planning on going down there the next day to catch the perfect powder (which they all said was fantastic).



Not being able to bring myself to suffer on that road again, I passed the offers and instead joined two of my other friends down in sunny warm Skopje for an afternoon of shopping and a first rate steak dinner. Of course KFOR had decided to set up an extra road block and truck inspection at the Macedonian border which let cars through one by one. No worries, as long as we didn't wait three hours my day was still a bonus. So with Apache helicopters circling overhead I snapped plenty of shots of a Kosovo traffic jam.





In Skopje, my objective was to purchase nothing more than a can of tennis balls (15 euros in Kosovo) which I succeeded in immediately. Followed by a bonus of purchasing all new casual work shirts and a sporty light corduroy jacket (for under $50US). I guess I figured spending money was a good way to move beyond the day of hell. We walked around in the sun, had some fresh baked donut circles and just enjoying 'getting out' for an afternoon. Sadly we had to end the perfect afternoon with a 5 star steak dinner and fresh salad that is impossible to come by in Pristina. And a smooth 2 hour drive back wrapped up another weekend, only in Kosovo.

Article: Time To Decide About Kosovo
By Morton Abramowitz
Newsweek International

The United Nations will soon take up the thorny issue of Kosovo. Should it become independent? The answer is 'yes.'

March 19, 2007 issue - Once again the Balkans are on the world docket. Few are paying attention, but the stakes are high: the stability of the region, the reliability of international promises, the credibility of the United Nations. We need to get the right answer.
The question, of course, is Kosovo. U.N. envoy Martti Ahtisaari has drafted his plan for "supervised" independence, severing the southernmost province of the former Yugoslavia from Serbia to join Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Montenegro among the tribe of new sovereign states. In Vienna this week he will make a final effort to convince Kosovars and Serbian leaders that it is in their best interests to sign on. The next stop will be the Security Council, which must decide what to do. One temptation will be to call for continued negotiations among the "parties." That would be a disaster for the region, the West and the United Nations. So would any Serbian effort to promote the partition of Kosovo.

The case for independence begins with Serbian misrule, culminating in massive ethnic cleansing. In 1998-99, Serbia's military drove nearly a million Kosovar citizens from their homes. Even most Serbs recognize they can never rule the land again, however reluctant they are to let go. Just as clearly, Kosovo's uncertain status generates instability throughout the region. Without resolution, neither Kosovo nor Serbia will be integrated into the EU—essential to their ultimate reconciliation as well as their economic growth. There's also a new phenomenon at work. The Albanian peoples of the Balkans are a rising power, not only in Kosovo and Albania, where they are in the overwhelming majority, but also in neighboring Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro. It is in Europe's interest to focus their energies on building their own countries, rather than on uniting their disparate communities into a single Pan-Albanian nation. And that's a strong possibility if the international community mishandles Kosovo.

The United States and its European allies share blame for creating the limbo that Kosovo finds itself in. To bring NATO's 1999 war to a quick end, the allies negotiated Security Council Resolution 1244, which eliminated Serbian control of Kosovo but retained its formal sovereignty—even as the United States, in particular, effectively promised Kosovo its independence at some unspecified future time. The Americans reasoned that dictator Slobodan Milosevic would soon lose power and a new democratic Serbian government would face reality—wrongly, as it turned out. Largely neglected since then, Kosovo in 2004 erupted in violence, this time with Serbs as victims, stimulating the West to move, however glacially. For much of the past year, U.N. negotiators led by Ahtisaari have gone through the excruciating charade of trying to bring Belgrade and Pristina to a compromise. No Serbian leader would dare sign on to independence, and no Kosovo leader will accept anything less.

Failing to work a miracle, however, does not mean Ahtisaari failed altogether. To the contrary, he has delineated a clear solution that opens the way for Kosovo to itself declare independence and win international recognition. His comprehensive plan includes maintaining a multiethnic Kosovo by giving an understandably frightened Serb population considerable autonomy in managing and policing their own communities and protecting Orthodox religious sites. Ahtisaari's plan also dictates the central provisions of a new Kosovo constitution and establishes an EU mission to replace the United Nations, with significant power over any new government. The Security Council is expected to debate a resolution endorsing the proposal in April or May.

Kosovars are not enamored with Ahtisaari's plan, but they are reluctant to let this chance for independence pass. Some fear further delay will incite violence of the sort witnessed in 2004, setting Kosovo back yet again. The biggest hurdle is Russia, which has repeatedly stated that both sides must agree to any proposed solution, in effect supporting Serbia's sovereignty. Belgrade clearly hopes Moscow will veto a new U.N. resolution. The challenge for the United States and Europe is to face down the Russians and make clear that a veto would only worsen relations, already badly strained by controversies involving Russia's use of energy as a political weapon and its role in negotiations over Iran's nuclear-weapons program.

The gravity of the moment should not be understated. If Russia casts a veto, Kosovo will declare independence on its own. The United States and Europe would have to act quickly to back it, lest Albanians or Serbs turn to violence, potentially spilling over borders. Many countries will worry about proceeding without a U.N. mandate. Certainly, the EU will have lost its legal basis for deploying a mission to Kosovo. If the U.N. fails at this juncture, diplomacy will also have failed. Yet again, the Security Council will have been enfeebled. Western promises would, once more, be proved precarious.

The Softer Side of Kosovo

Nothing like another protest to force you to grab a knapsack and head for the mountains. The self-determination movement here in Kosovo staged another (peaceful) protest to condemn the accidental killing of protesters several weeks ago and in general the Status proposal documents being sent to the UN Security Council. So in anticipation of the shit potentially hitting the fan the UN gave all their employees a 3 day weekend hoping they would leave town. For the rest of us we had security warnings to stay out of downtown for most the day. So we did, but spent it up in the mountains instead.

My Swiss neighbor and I drove a little over an hour towards Serbia pulling off the main road to take a beautiful winding road 25 km up a mountain range to the treeless hilltops surrounding some very small and quaint villages and farms. The weather was perfect. Almost summer temperatures with a wonderful clean breeze coming down from the hilltops. Since we weren't exactly sure where to go and of course have no maps to guide us, we just pulled over on the side of the road and started up an old dirt track that quickly wound its way into some snow banks that had been sheltered from the teasing sun. No sounds but the wind, no people but ourselves and no pollution but the trash strewn about the road dumped their by clueless locals (we have figure they must not mind the way it looks because they can't be daft enough to think someone else will pick it up).

(click on photo for full panoramic)

The fortunate thing about these hills is you can pretty much see exactly where you want to go and even if there is not a trail to lead you there, you can just traverse across the hills knowing you will eventually end up exactly where you want to be. Which is what we did. Had some fun trying to climb over and through various tree limb piles left behind from apparent illegal logging operations but several nice steams and some fresh wildflowers already braving the all to early Spring. Only for a moment did we actually freak out when we wondered (not completely seriously since we had been told it was ok) if there were any mines left in the area. We just said a prayer and continued on our beautiful way.

Several hours later back at the car traversing down the mountain we came across a small but refreshing waterfall. Perfect spot for picnickers and can only image how packed it must be with locals during the summer months cooling down. Before heading back to the city we traversed the northern valley to have a wonderful outdoor lunch in Mitrovice at a fish farm owned by one of my projects clients. We had a perfect view of the towns foothills and thoroughly enjoyed our cold beers and fresh fish. Not too bad all in a days events.

Sunday was a bit less eventful but went the dog shelter with some friends to walk the homeless animals up into the hills and let them run and play about. I have been 'shopping' around to potentially adopt one but am taking my time to really think through whether I could properly care of one. In the meanwhile we bring the shelter food and try to help the unfunded operation take care of the 50 or so dogs. It's nice to be around so many people out here with big hearts!!

Doing Business in the Balkans

Doesn't the phrase go something like 'the devil is in the details'? Well I'm afraid unless I take a moment to record the everyday occurrences of what I experience in most business meetings, I will forget how NOT ordinary things really are out here.

Take for instance the fact that you can't actually really schedule meetings (in advance). People will just refuse to allow you to open up your calendar and get them to commit to a date and time unless it is either that day or the next. Even if someone is gracious enough to humor our western mentality, it will be imperative to reconfirm that morning. And not to mention that the meeting will very easily begin late and be interrupted routinely with a series of cell phone calls to anyone in the meeting (which they WILL answer), a communal pass the cigarette box around to all light up all at once, and at least two rounds of tea or machiato. Forgot to mention that before anyone actually says anything of substance, there must be the token and obligatory thankyou's and complements about anything that one can think about.

Amazing though that all of this has almost faded into white noise which has allowed my attention to be drawn to other such matters which are a bit more disturbing. How about the fact that (at least Albanians) either appear to posses an uncanny ability to be able to listen and speak at the exact same time as the person they are conversing with OR they don't care enough to listen to what the other person has to say. I have sat in on meetings where this verbal arm wrestling match lasted for almost a solid minute before one gentleman final stopped talking to allow the victor to complete his sentence. Of course the conversation had to continue four times longer than it should have since neither was listening to the other. Also common (with many other cultures as well) is the fact that they will often raise their voices to the point that you are certain things will come to blows, until it just turns out they were talking about the best texture of coffee beans to get the deepest aroma.

And how about putting on a training or a conference.? I can't say that RSVPs mean a whole lot since you will often times be lucky to just get a couple folks to listen to what you may have to say. Never mind the translations required for most meetings since my Albanian is no where near a business vocabulary. If the next time I speak with any of you and you find me omitting articles from my sentences or using very basic vocabulary, it is part to the training to keep things as simple as possible for both translation and those that do speak English.

Aside from all these peculiarities, most our clients are warm, good-intentioned and very receptive of the assistance we provide. Who knows, maybe there is something to always talking over others. At least this way it's hard to lose an argument? ;-)