Behgjet Pacolli

Behgjet Isa Pacolli (b. August 30, 1951, Marevc, District of Pristina) is a Swiss businessman of Kosovar Albanian origin and a Kosovo politician. During the 2007 parliamentary election he declared property worth €420 million [ [http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=10&dd=17&nav_id=44655 Kosovo politicians refuse to reveal sources of wealth] , B92, October 17, 2007.]

In the 1970s he emigrated to Austria and shortly afterwards moved to Switzerland, where he became one of the top managers of Interplastica, an engineering and trading company dealing in chemicals and plastics and cooperating with the countries of the Soviet bloc. In 1990 he founded Mabetex, a construction company based in Lugano, Switzerland, which has developed into a large business group, now including the Kosovo daily tabloid Lajm, founded in 2002.

In 1992, during construction projects in Yakutsk, Russia, Pacolli closely cooperated with Yakutsk mayor Pavel Borodin. When Borodin had become the presidential property manager, Mabetex was given the lucrative contract to reconstruct Moscow Kremlin. In 1998-1999 Prosecutor General of Russia Yury Skuratov opened a bribery investigation against Mabetex, which was dropped after he left his office, and accused Pacolli personally of bribing President Boris Yeltsin's family members. In 2000 Pacolli sued Skuratov in a Russian court for defamation. In 2000-2001 during the investigation of the money laundering case against Borodin, who was detained in Switzerland, Pacolli was charged with giving bribes to Russian top officials and summoned for interrogation several times by a Swiss magistrate. The charges were eventually dropped. [Илья Вукелич, Андрей Терехов. [http://www.ng.ru/world/2006-01-23/1_mabetex.html Балканский Мабетекс] . "Nezavisimaya Gazeta", January 23, 2006.] [Michael Wines. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A07E3DE143CF935A2575AC0A96F958260 The Kremlin's Keeper, the World at His Fingertips, Is Under a Cloud] . "The New York Times", September 16, 1999.] [Ian Traynor. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2000/jan/28/russia.iantraynor Swiss investigators order arrest of top Yeltsin aide] . "The Guardian, January 28, 2000.] [Philip Willan, James Meek. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1999/aug/26/russia.philipwillan Yeltsin family 'took bribes'] . "The Guardian", August 26, 1999.] [ [http://www.lenta.ru/lib/14160295/ Бородин, Павел] . Lenta.ru] [Екатерина Заподинская. [http://www.kommersant.ru/doc-rss.aspx?DocsID=156552 Беджет Паколли признан чистоплотным. Он выиграл суд со Скуратовым] . Kommersant, August 30, 2000.]

In 1999-2002 Pacolli was married to Anna Oxa, an Italian singer of Albanian descent. On March 17, 2006, in Kosovo Pacolli founded the political party New Kosovo Alliance, which took part in the 2007 parliamentary election and came third. Pacolli became a deputy in the Assembly of Kosovo and a member of the Committee for Budget and Finance. However, Berat Buzhala, an analyst from Pristina, expected the party to be excluded from any government coalition because of Pacolli's background in Russia and Serbia and poor terms with Western diplomats. Pacolli is in favor of the independence of Kosovo, but claimed that negotiations with Serbia on Kosovo's status should not be mediated by the international community. This statement was harshly criticized by other politicians. [Mustafa, Artan. [http://www.b92.net/eng/insight/opinions.php?yyyy=2007&mm=11&nav_id=45441 Kosovo parties mull post-election coalition] . B92, November 15, 2007.]

References

External Links

* [http://akr-ks.com/CV-albanian%20BEHGJET%20PACOLLI.pdf Curriculum Vitae] (in Albanian) @ New Kosovo Alliance
* [http://www.assembly-kosova.org/?krye=deputet&depid=578&lang=en Behgjet Pacolli] @ Assembly of Kosovo