The assembly of a joint work force of 600 ethnic Albanians and 250 Serbs has been marred by periodic threats and harassment from both sides, NATO officials said, and workers say the two groups try to avoid one another as much as possible. Ethnic Albanians grumble that NATO's efforts, which have focused on building a multiethnic work force, have allowed too many Serbs to hold well-paying jobs. Employees on both sides predict that the Serbs, who held more jobs and special privileges than did the ethnic Albanians before the war, will leave once NATO troops stop overseeing security. NATO officials insist it will provide for Kosovo's near-term electrical needs.
Work is under way to revive a newer plant nearby.
But several workers said the older plant desperately needs major upgrades, both to modernize equipment and correct shoddy repairs and lax maintenance. The boilers that power the generators are patched and prone to problems, employees said, and spare parts were spirited away long ago. Officials say it will take weeks before the plant is operating at capacity. Then there is the problem of pollution. Zoran Stanisavlievic, an engineer, said that each of the plant's towering smokestacks emits 20 tons of acidic coal ash per hour, sending up a gray-brown plume that frequently blankets nearby Pristina, the Kosovo capital, in the wintertime.