Behgjet Pacolli
Behgjet Isa Pacolli ( born August 30, 1951 in Marec ( in Pristina ), today Republic of Kosovo ) is a Kosovo- Swiss politician and entrepreneur. He was 2011 President of the Republic of Kosovo and is currently First Vice- Prime Minister in the Cabinet Hashim Thaci. He was chairman of the political party Alliance for a New Kosovo. Pacolli is also the chairman of the Mabetex Group, a Switzerland-based building and construction company, is considered the world's richest Albanians. It also has Swiss nationality.
- 3.1 President of the Republic of Kosovo
- 3.2 Deputy Prime Minister
Youth and Career
Behgjet is the son of Isa and Nazmije Pacolli. He was the second oldest of ten children and grew up in poor circumstances in Kosovo. In 1974 he did his military service in the Yugoslav People's Army. Shortly after his release, he went in search of job opportunities to an Austrian company, where he worked as a sales representative for Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Poland and Russia. In 1976 he moved to Switzerland, where he worked as a manager for Inter Plastic, a construction and trading company, which dealt with chemicals and plastics, especially with the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries. In the late 1970s he acquired in Hamburg a university degree in economics. He specialized in marketing and management. In 1990 he founded in Switzerland Mabetex, a construction company based in Lugano, which developed into a group of companies.
International Projects
Russia
1992 Pacolli received group of companies, among others, Pavel Borodin, head of the presidential estate of Russia, orders for remodeling, renovation and restoration of the former Parliament of the Russian Federation, the State Duma and the Moscow Kremlin. As part of a criminal Pacolli was accused in 1998 of bribing members of the family of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, after Pacolli successfully sued the investigating Russian prosecutor libel.
Kazakhstan
Currently Mabetex is much involved with several projects in the construction of the new Kazakh capital Astana, for example, at the residence of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Overall Pacolli Group has built 40 % of new buildings in Astana.
Italy
In Italy, the Mabetex Group was responsible for the restoration of the destroyed by fire from La Fenice Theatre in Venice.
Uzbekistan
In the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, his group built the city hall.
Policy
On 17 March 2006 Pacolli founded the political party Alliance for a New Kosovo ( AKR ), which participated in the 2007 parliamentary elections and became the third strongest party. During these elections, he stated that his assets amounts to € 420 million. Pacolli became a member of the House of Representatives of Kosovo and a member of the Committee for budget financing.
Since 2004 engaged in lobbying Mr. Pacolli in Kosovo by demanding full independence and recognition of Kosovo and after the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo in February 2008, continues to be committed to officially recognize Kosovo as an independent state.
President of the Republic of Kosovo
On 22 February 2011 Mr. Pacolli was elected on the recommendation of Hashim Thaci as President of the Republic of Kosovo. On 30 March 2011 the Constitutional Court of Kosovo announced that his election to the presidency was not constitutional. Atifete Jahjaga was elected on 7 April 2011 as his successor as president.
Deputy Prime Minister
After he was appointed by Prime Minister Thaçi to his first deputy, entrusted him with the task of mobilizing a further recognitions of the Republic of Kosovo by UN member states. Especially Pacolli traveled in the spring and summer of 2011 in West African countries, so that some countries such as the Central African Republic, Niger, Guinea and Benin in August 2011 recognized Kosovo as an independent state.
Private life, diplomacy and social commitment
Pacolli was married from 1999 to 2002 with Anna Oxa, an Italian singer of Albanian origin. He is currently married to Maria Pacolli (born Sitschkowa ) and has one son and of four daughters.
2004, three United Nations employees were taken hostage in Kabul, including a Kosovo Albanian, whose release could reach Pacolli after a month of intense negotiations. In 2006, he negotiated the release of abducted in Afghanistan Italian Gabrielle Torsello.
In 1993, Pacolli " Les Enfants du Sakha ", a fund with the aim to give children help with medical care, education and leisure.
After the Kosovo war, Pacolli founded in Lugano, the " Foundation for the Organisation and Reconstruction of Kosovo " ( FORK ), an organizational plan for Kosovo, humanitarian aid for Kosovo Albanians guaranteed.
His humanitarian foundation, the American University in Kosovo in Pristina built and equipped.
Pacolli also financially supports the SEED Foundation (South East European Development ) and is an international advisor to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies ( CSIS).
In July 2010, the International Union awarded him out for peace with the Peace Medal " Cavaliere della Pace " ( Peace Medal ).