The Investors Council of Europe (EIC) elected the new Board of Directors at the third meeting of the General Assembly held yesterday in Pristina. The new nine-member board will be chaired by Robert Erzin, IPKO’s executive director, for the next two years.

Vice chairman will be Ilir Aliu, executive director of ProCredit Bank, Albert Lumezi, executive director of NLB Banka, will be in charge of the Treasury, while Paul Garins, executive director of Jetoil, is the new general secretary.The Assembly also re-elected Nataliya Apostolova, head of the EU office in Kosovo, and Elena Petrovska, head of the EBRD office in Kosovo, as honorary members of the board.The European investors council currently consists of 22 European investors, providing direct employment to more than 5000 persons and another 3000 indirect persons.

The current turnover of EIC members is 500 million euros, with investments in Kosovo which so far amount to 1 billion euros.Speaking at the event, Apostolova thanked the former chairman and Board of Directors for their work and contribution to the European Reform Agenda, which was launched last week by Commissioner Hahn and Prime Minister Mustafa.”Businesses in Kosovo face a lack of rule of law, informal economy, malfunction of the judiciary, ad hoc decisions of the government, lack of energy supply and lack of skilled labor.

At the same time, the lack of economic prospects causes political instability, migration, radicalism and ethnic division. The idea of establishing the EIC was to create an advocacy body that would enter into a constructive dialogue with the Government of Kosovo and other relevant institutions in order to resolve issues that hinder EU investments in Kosovo, leading to the creation of more jobs for the people of Kosovo,” Apostolova stressed.Minister of trade and Industry, Hykmete Bajrami, has expressed full support for the work of the European Council of investors and for future cooperation, especially for the work done to improve the business environment in Kosovo.”Through working groups created within the National Council for Economic Development, the government will soon launch a new process of economic reforms open to all businesses, including the EIC, whose work in Kosovo has been greatly appreciated”, said Minister Bajrami.The newly elected chairman of the EIC Board, Rober Erzin, he said he was grateful and honored to take up the new position.”I hope that we will strengthen the European Investors Council as an active and reliable partner who knows how to approach problems but also provide solutions for an improved business environment in Kosovo”.Participants were also greeted by Petrovska and the first chairman of the board, Emmanuel Mitsou. The EIC Assembly thanked Mitsou for significantly advancing relations between Kosovo and EU partners.The Investors Council of Europe (EIC) is a non-profit organization, founded in 2014. The EIC was created to give voice to European investors with the aim of eradicating systemic shortcomings of the business environment and increasing foreign direct investment.This in turn would realize Kosovo’s potential by creating competition and capacity for citizens and businesses and creating more jobs for Kosovo.