Finance and customs officials from the Balkan countries are set to gather in Kosovo later this week for a United Nations-hosted meeting on ways to combat cigarette smuggling, which has contributed to a significant loss in revenue for several governments in the region and a consequent drop in funds available for public services.

The United Nations mission in Kosovo today said it was investigating possible fraud by the province's energy company, involving €4.5 million (euros) of international aid money used to import electricity.

While the formation of a government in Kosovo earlier this year after several months of deadlock was an important step forward, much more needs to be done to create a secure climate in order to spur economic development, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a new report on the United Nations efforts in the province.

The chief prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today confirmed that her office had opened three investigations dealing with suspects from the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), and that she hoped to issue the first indictment in those cases this year.