By DAN BILEFSKY PRISTINA, Kosovo - Bekim Kuqi has braved civil war, exile, bombs falling on his factories and the detonation of a car filled with explosives in one of his stores.
So he says he is prepared for the daunting challenge of doing business in the newly independent Kosovo.
“I often think that staying here requires too much sacrifice, and I should just leave,” said Mr. Kuqi, 33, who owns a chain of clothing stores.
“But I belong to this place.
” In the weeks since Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian leadership declared independence from Serbia, with the backing of Washington and the European Union, Pristina has continued to pulsate with young crowds at stylish new cafes and shopping malls.
But such superficial signs of economic success mask the harsh uncertainties of a newborn nation, whose very existence is not recognized by Serbia, Russia or some European countries.
Even if Kosovo can overcome those political hurdles, its economy has been so devastated by war that it imports even staples like milk and meat.
It is ranked by Transparency International, the Berlin-based anticorruption watchdog, as the world’s fourth most corrupt economy, after Cameroon, Cambodia and Albania.
Whether Kosovo can build a successful economy will help determine whether it will become a full-fledged country or remain a poor adopted orphan of the West.
For the foreseeable future, Western analysts say, Kosovo’s economy will remain dependent on generous aid, its security assured by 16,000 NATO troops and its political affairs overseen by a European Union mission .
“It could take at least 10 years for Kosovo to stand on its own two feet,” said Joost Lagendijk, who oversees Kosovo policy in the European Parliament.
“Kosovo is a poor agricultural country where the energy supply is chaotic, the rule of law needs to be upheld and the economy is almost starting from scratch.
” Scrap metal from old cars is Kosovo’s biggest export.
Infrastructure is creaky, businesspeople complain that bribery is commonplace and unemployment is about 50 percent, government officials say.
“For years, we have used not having our independence as an excuse for everything,” said Shpend Ahmeti, an economist who runs the Institute for Advanced Studies, a Pristina-based research organization.
“Now that we have it, we need to show that we deserve to be a country and that we can create a viable economy.
” For that, economists say, Kosovo needs to foster local industry; imports run at about $1.9 billion a year, but exports are a paltry $130 million.
Kosovo’s lack of recognition by several countries could deter investment and impede the European Union from signing trade deals with it .
Many here are pinning their hopes on Kosovo’s untapped mineral wealth.
British geologists conducting a recent survey of Kosovo’s resources say the territory has vast amounts of minerals, including deposits of nickel, lead, zinc, cadmium, bauxite and even small seams of gold.
Yet the infrastructure for extracting minerals is outdated, and mining analysts say Kosovo’s most important mining complex, the Trepca mine, will need hundreds of millions of dollars in outside investment to create a profitable exporting business.
Even with the challenges, there are a few brave investors here.
Ekrem Luka, the head of a sprawling conglomerate called Dukagjini , said he planned to build a 23-story complex in downtown Pristina, complete with a 100-room hotel, three stories of shopping and private apartments.
“The business attraction of Kosovo is that we are starting at zero and need everything,” he said.
“Exporters, importers, retailers, you name it.”