Could Serbs who used to work in socially owned companies get compensation from privatization?
That’s a serious problem, the Law on Privatization has a lot of deficiencies from the aspect of the ombudsman, as I pointed out in my last intervention before my departure. Namely, the Law states that the beneficiaries of funds from privatization can be employees who were employed at the time the Law was enacted and those former employees who can prove that they would still be working in the same company if not for discrimination. Basically, a Serb who was employed prior to 1999 in a company has to prove that he did not come to work because of discrimination. And how could he prove that? It’s impossible; no one can prove such things. On the basis of EU Law an employee who complains of discrimination has the sole obligation of filing a claim with cause. After that, it is the company that must prove that there was no discrimination, that is, the burden of proof is on the company, not on the employee. For example, the Pec Brewery would need to prove that these people did not come to work
