Prishtina, June 21 – FOL Movement supported by the U.S. Embassy in Pristina, held the Discussing Forum about the level of implementation of the Law on Protection of Informers by public officials.

In this Forum were present representatives from Ministry of Justice, Independent Supervising Board on Civil Servants, members of Legislation Committee, Kosovo Institute of Public Administration, Department for Investigation of Economic Crimes and Corruption, Anti-Corruption Agency, and representatives of various non-governmental organizations.
In this forum, except the presentation of rhe findings of the research ” officials do not report corruption: The level of knowledge and experience of public officials about the Law on Protection of Informers”, was also discussed about the weaknesses of the Law, its implementation by officials in practice, and its promotion by various public officials.
Basri Gimolli from The Division of Policy and Legislation stated that “Tthe Ministry of Justice, as sponsor of this law was obliged only to draft the law and is not responsible for its implementation and monitoring by its officials.”

He further added, “The purpose of this law is to encourage officials to report illegal actions, but the law is based more on the goodwill of the officials rather thsn in their legal compulsion to denounce a particular crime.”

More decisive was the member of Legislation Committee from Lëvizja Vetëvendosje (Self-Determination Movement), Albulena Haxhiu who stated that “This law needs to be amended because of the many weaknesses it contains”. She further added that “public officials are affraid to report cases of corruption within their respective institutions.”
Bajram Ajeti, Director of the Independent Supervising Board on Civil Servants, said “a large number of public officials are not informed at all about the existence of the Law on Protection of Informers; therefore we must find the opportunities how to promote the Law in central and local institutions, and private sector as well”. Moreover, he stressed that “officials are arbitrarily terminated from their jobs due to an authoritarian mentality that exists in our institutions.”

Shemsi Igrishta from Directorate for Investigation of Economic Crimes and Corruption, among others presented the general reporting figures for 2012, including public officials’ denonciations. He said that “154 reports out 297 that they have received were considered as grounded and are considered as cases, and 143 other cases have been sent with special prosecutor’s report.”
Arton Demhasaj, a representative of COHU organization expressed his criticism regarding the level of implementation of this law, its name and the scope of the law.
Samir Reka, Executiv Director of INPO, said, “At the local level, it is not known about the xistence of the Law on Protection of Informers and leave alone its content and implementation.”

At the end of the forum were given several recommendations. Among the most important are:
• The Law should be more specific regarding the fight and prevention of corruption;
• The name of the law should be changed;
• Organizing promotion campaigns about the content of the law;
• Committee on Legislation should organize public discussions regarding the implementation of the Law;
• Appointing responsible officials for supervision of irregularities;
• Finding ways to encourage officials to report corruption;
This project was funded through a grant of the the American Embassy in Prishtina

Prishtina, 20th June – FOL Movement within the Platform on Declaration and Comparison of the assets of public officials (http://levizjafol.org/al/deklarimet), has updated the data on declaration of the assets for 2012, which were made public by Anti-Corruption Agency in late May 2013.

In this platform are 236 senior officials, who are in high positions since 2010 up to date, including 34 mayors, 107 parliament members, and 77 senior government officials. This year have been included another 12 senior officials from both local and on a central level, due to some changes in several ministries.

According to declarations to ACA, the difference of assets of public officials which is increased in 2012 compared with the previous year is as follows:
• Deputy Prime Minister Behxhet Pacolli – € 102,532,814.00;
• Parliament Member Emin Gerbeshi – € 1,747,100.00;
• Mayor of Suhareka, Blerim Kuqi – € 684,859.00;
• Mayor of Drenas, Nexhat Demaku – € 360,420.00;
• Parliament Member, Hamza Balje – € 195,300.00;
• Deputy Minister of Diaspora, Nuredin Lushtaku, € 101,000.00;
• Parliamenr Member, Lutfi Haziri – € 94,829.00;
• Parliament Member, Muhamet Mustafa – € 87,799.00;
• The President Atifete Jahjaga – € 52,673.00;
• Deputy Prime Minister, Hajredin Kuçi – € 36,712.00.
Meanwhile, public officials whose assets declined during 2012 compared with the previous year are:
• Parliament Member, Ramiz Kelmendi – € 21,905,167.00;
• Parliament Member Florin Kelmendi -€ 4,482,655.00;
• Parliament Member Hashim Deshishku – € 568,269.00;
• Deputy Minister of Economic Developement, Ramadan Hasani – € 185,235.00;
• Minister of Finances, Besim Beqaj – € 185,235.00;
• Deputy Minister of Public Administration, Nexhmedin Kastrati – € 95,360.00;
• Chairman of Parliament Jakup Krasniqi – € 20,000.00;
• Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi – € 15,135.00.

Kosovo citizens can compare the declarations of assets and also comment on those for each category. Comments given to this platform after a certain period of time will be sent to the Anti-Corruption Agency and the State Prosecution, in order to begin investigation about the declarations that eventually are not accurate or about the high level of difference from a year to another year without any reasonable explanation.
For more about the wealth of senior public officials, please visit Platform on Declaration and Comparison of the assets of public officials

Prishtina, 17th June – Today FOL Movement held a press conference presenting the report: “Officials do not report corruption: The level of knowledge and experience of public officials about the Law on Protection of Informers”.

Armend Mazreku a researcher at FOL Movement said that “Like all laws on prevention and fighting corruption, the Law on Protection of Informers suffers from several deficiencies and legal gaps.” Further, he added that “besides the aspects related mainly to the normative aspects of this law, the findings of this research argue the poor and insufficient level of public officials regarding denunciation of offenses.”

According to the research of FOL, it results that the Law on Protection of Informers contains many gaps and deficiencies. Among them are: the wrong name and with a negative connotation of the Law on Protection of Informers; generalized scope of the Law and non-specification in the field of criminal offenses against official duty as provided by Kosovo Criminal Code; uncertainty about which instance is responsible for receiving information, and the impunity of people or authorities responsible when they reveal the identity of the reporters of corruption.
Moreover, according to the findings of this research, only 73.6% of officials who hold different public functions are informed about the existence of the Law on Protection of Informers, while 26.4% of them are not at all informed about the existence or non-existence of the law. It is even worse about the content of the law. Only 15% of public officials in central and local level turn out to be informed of the contents of this law, 60% somewhat, 21% little and 4% have no knowledge at all. According to this research only 36% of public officials have reported cases of corruption, while 73% of them have ‘closed their eyes’ of what they have seen.

Furthermore, the research has shown the lack of supervising officials for irregularities who should have been appointed by public institutions, the fear of officials for punishment by their superiors, and the lack of public discussion about the level of implementation of the Law, by parliamentarians and representatives of civil society organizations.
In addition to these important aspects, the research has also identified the advantages and weaknesses of Kosovo legislation compared to the countries in the region. While the advantages of Kosovo legislation according to this research is this specific law and protection this law guarantee when the identity of the officials is revealed, on the other hand regarding other aspects mainly related to the scope of the law, the bodies responsible for receiving information, punishment of the responsible people or authorities who reveal the identity of those who report abusive practices, countries in the region are significantly better regarding these issues.

Prishtina, 14th June – Today FOL Movement held a conference on “The Effects of Electronic Procurement in increase of Public Procurement Transparency”. At this conference participated representatives from Public Procurement Agency of the Republic of Albania, representatives of Public Procurement Regulatory Commission of Kosovo, representatives of various public procurement authorities, and civil society and media.

Fidan Kalaja from FOL Movement stated that FOL since 2011 is focused on monitoring public procurement procedures. “Considering that corruption in public procurement has been high and there is a lack of transparency in this sector, since 2011 we have recommended that public institutions should begin implementing electronic procurement to minimize corruption corruption cases in this system”. Considering that “FOL Movement has initiated the process of Kosovo’s membership in the Open Government Partnership – OPG, increasing the transparency of public procurement through implementation of e-procurement is the main criterion for membership thus the Kosovo Government must hasten the implementation of this system, “said Kalaja.

Bleda Muhollari from Public Procurement Agency of the Republic of Albania said that in Albania this system has started to be applied since 2009. “Electronic procurement system provides safe, efficient and transparent preparation and administration of all documents related to the tendering process, avoiding the submission of the documentation on paper ensuring a secure flow of data throughout the process”. According to her, this system significantly reduces the time of application, eliminates unnecessary documentation, facilitates and standardizes familiarization with tender conditions, guarantees the confidentiality of the bid, generates reports and their electronic storage for on line reviews, thus reducing the possibility of corruption. Muhollari stated that using this system “Albania became the first country in the world to implement an e-procurement system for all procurement procedures of public sector”. According to her “the implementation of this system had a profound effect on the growth of free competition where the number of bids for a tender procedure is increased from an average of 2 to 7 bids”.

The representative of the Public Procurement Regulatory Commission of Kosovo, Abdyl Limani, stated that the World Bank is preparing a strategic plan of electronic procurement system in Kosovo. “It would be easier for Kosovo to get Albania’s program, but experts from the World Bank claim that each country has its own specifics, therefore Kosovo should have a special electronic procurement system,” said Limani. According to him, until now the legislation on public procurement has had five changes. Even now is in preparation for other changes and soon they will be done as well. Limani said that according to the promises they received from the World Bank, by the end of this year, the electronik procurement system will be ready.
Alban Hashani from Riinvest Institute, said that in a similar meeting we were promised that in January of this year the electronic procurement will beging to be used and thus it would be good for PPRC and public institutions to give us a correct information about when this will happen” said Hasani.

In this conference was also discussed about how willing and prepared Kosovo institutions to implement such a system are, considering the application of advanced electronic technology. There were also discussions about many challenges that Kosovo will face regarding this process, the participants concluded that Kosovo should not waste more time and should begin as soon as possible the implementation of electronic procurement considering the positive effects this system will bring on the progress of public procurement procedures in Kosovo.

3th June 2013 – The Advisory Board of FOL Movement held on Thursday the successive meeting for the year 2013. The agenda of this meeting foresaw discussions over the report of annual activities and finances for the year 2012 and discussions in merit of the process of Kosovo’s membership in the Open Government Partnership.

Board members, unanimously, approved the report of activities and finances for the year 2012, after the same was presented by the management of FOL Movement. Same, during this meeting the Executive Director of FOL Movement informed the members of the Board regarding the initiative that FOL has taken in the process of Kosovo’s membership in the global initiative for transparency and good governance, respectively the membership in the OGP. Among other things, Petrit Zogaj stated that, “OGP is a multilateral initiative, where governments, civil society and business sectors are included, with the main aim of promoting transparency, empowering citizens, fighting corruption and harnessing new technologies to strengthen good governance”.

Having in consideration the high level of corruption in the country, the lack of transparency and accountability from the public institutions, FOL Movement by being supported from the British Embassy in Kosovo, expects from the Kosovo’s Presidency, Government and other institutions, same as from the private sector, to show an interest in the process of country’s membership nearby this organization. He said that, FOL Movement has already set up first contacts with the Open Government Partnership – OGP by elaborating in the same time the plan containing the actions that Kosovo must undertake in order to become a member of this organization in April of 2014.

The Advisory Board supported the FOL Movement’s initiative, by stating that it should be considered as a public pressure towards the institutions in order to make them more transparent when it comes to their public expenditures.
The Board’s meeting continued discussing over other points of the agenda, where once again a full support was given to the engagement of FOL Movement in promoting the fight against corruption, and increasing the transparency and the accountability of public institutions.

Prishtina, 31st May – FOL Movement organized a debate on the Law on Declaration of Assets of senior public officials, which is in the process of significant amendments and harmonization with Kosovo Criminal Code. In this debate were invited representatives from Ministry of Justice, Anti-Corruption Agency, and Agency for Personal Data Protection, representatives from civil society and media.

Petrtit Zogaj, Executive Director of FOL Movement, stated that the purpose of this debate is to discuss with the main authorities and interested parties regarding the amendments and harmonization of this law with the new Criminal Code of Kosovo
The Secretary General of Ministry of Justice Mr. Bedri Bahtiri said that the change and harmonization of laws has become known as a requirement of the Feasibility Study Report. “Our ministry has accepted the recommendations of the Anti-Corruption Agency and Agency for Personal Data Protection. We also held a debate with NGOs, so once we get a version with the proposed changes we will send to all interested parties for reviews”. According to him, regarding the Amendment of this Law, Ministry of Justice has invited international experts in order to have a law based on best practices from European countries.

Afrim Atashi, a representative of the Anti-Corruption Agency, said ACA in its working group has requested and managed to realize the publication, meanwhile, it is still debatable only the modalities about the in access published records. According to him, ACA wanted there were some other changes in the law, but they were mostly technical changes.
Mentor Hoxhaj, a representative of the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data, said that the attitude of the agency he represents is against the declaration of assets of senior official’s brother and sister, while they are not against the publication of these data. However, he asked that asset declaration form should be developed jointly by the two agencies, which was opposed by ACA.
Arton Demhasi, from organization Çohu, said that the good practices we are talking abpot, are created by laws that have been suitable with the circumstances of that country. “I think that no law drafted by taking examples from EU countries will be useful, because no country in Europe has the level of corruption as we have in Kosovo,” said Demhasi.

Agron Behrami, from Anti-Corruption Agency stated that they cannot begin with the procedures without some additional data required. “We know that there are many cases in Kosovo where people live in large families, but there are also cases when people used to declare that they live alone but it proved to be untrue, after investigations we have realized that they live together in large families, so we need more data on citizens than there are published.”

Gallery

Prishtina, 24th May – Today, the newspaper Zëri, in an editorial, relying on documents that possesses has denounced Minister Fadil Ismail about his involvement in corruption affairs. As this newspaper informs, Minister Ismail has been involved in different corruption and conflict of interest affairs while he was on various functions in Public Companies.
These published materials should have been sufficient evidence for State Prosecution to initiate investigations against Mr. Ismaili. We believe that the Prosecution would take seriously the case of

Mr. Ismaili, but also for other cases, the media and civil society are constantly talking about.
Minister Ismaili, who was appointed just a few days ago, took over the most important ministry in the Government of Kosovo, which is the Ministry of Economic Development. Leading this government department by Mr. Ismaili, which includes sensitive processes of Kosovo’s economy, privatization of public companies, strategic economic orientation and so on, are very suspicious because of his implication in different corruption and conflict of interest affairs.

Also, being committed declaratively that Kosovo Government will have ‘zero tolerance’ to corruption, the Government and the Prime Minister must have an attitude about the findings of the newspaper Zëri regarding Mr. Ismaili. No doubt that this is primarily a responsibility of Prime Minister where Ministers are involved in corruption affairs. Such a thing should not be a justification of the coalition, making compromises to not to act in such cases when government officials are denounced for corruption practices, which is to the country’s disadvantage, at the disadvantage of good management of public property and damaging public budget and citizens.

Podujeva, May 21, 2013 – FOL Movement organized a debate on the topic “Annual Work of Podujeva Municipality – Transparency and Accountability”. Panelist in this debate was Mr. Agim Veliu, Mayor of Podujeva. Other guests were representatives of political parties in the municipality, municipal counselors, chairmen of local communities, media and civil society representatives.
Fidan Kalaja, from FOL Movement said that “the purpose of organizing these debates is to promote transparency of local institutions”. In order to achieve this, today FOL is implementing this debate with the Mayor of Podujeva, and such debates will be organized in other municipalities of Kosovo as well.

The Mayor of Podujeva Municipality Agim Veliu, said that “whenever we talk about accountability and transparency, it is known that we talk about the budget, expenditures, investments, etc.” He briefly present the budget and its expenditure categories stressing that ” the budget of Podujeva Municipality for 2012 was about 17 million Euros, and although it is not spend 100 % we can say that a great deal of the budget is spent” According to him, with this budget have been implemented a number of projects where among them the investments in infrastructure, investment in health, in agriculture, in culture, as well as constructing 11 houses for social housing etc. “The most important is that in 2012 we have conducted 205 procurement procedures where no procurement procedure in Podujeva Municipality has been canceled and there were no complaints from competing operators because the laws was respected precisely ” said Veliu .

Nexhat Llumnica from Lëvizja për Bashkim (Unity Movement), said that the mayor is not fulfilling the promises made in 2009, particularly regarding the improving of the situation in education. He said that “there is still lack of schools, the quality is very poor, we have teachers who teach four different subjects, and the most concerning the violence in schools, where students are beaten by their teachers.”
PDK Municipal Counselor, Kadri Avdiu said that the lack of transparency leads to suspicions that there may be corruption affairs. Regarding the financial report that has been discussed in Assembly we have noticed some inconsistencies in the report regarding the last three months,” said Avdiu.
Naim Qunaku, also from PDK, said that as a “what’s to be concerned about, we consider, is the unpleasant situation for drafting the draft-budget, reports in municipal assembly, and there projects that have been realized without the approval of the assembly”. According to him, it is ridiculous that for three months of the year are spent about 280 thousand Euros for goods and services, while it is the same amount for capital investments as well.

Gallery of activity

Prishtina, 5th May 2013 – It’s been two years since FOL Movement is engaged in monitoring of public procurement. This commitment is as a result of our previous research, where we found out that corruption allegations and misuse of public funds are an issue at different stages in public procurement, including both levels, central and local.
We monitor public procurement procedures in institutions directly, by participating in the process, and indirectly, through institutions research and public procurement institutions research. During this two year period, FOL has published reports, analyses and different reactions regarding public procurement policies.

On 4th May 2013, FOL Movement has published its regular quarterly report, “Procurement Monitor January-March 2013”, which includes and interprets the decisions of Public Procurement Review Body, in order of public sensitization about the situation of the following procedures and legal provisions during the public procurement activities. As we know, Public Procurement Review Body is an independent review body which according to the Law on Public Procurement 04-L-042, is authorized to review the compliance of legal provisions during the procedure in question.
The report that has been published had the same purpose. In this report about the Municipality of Prishtina we have presented the data provided by PRB decisions taken during public procurement procedures. Law violations that Prishtina Municipality has committed in three different activities of public procurement are found in the PRB decision No. 377/12 dated 01.23.2013 for the tender “Supply and installation of cameras at traffic lights and in schools” then the decision No. 15/13 dated 20.02.2013 for the tender “Supply of industrial salt for winter season” and also in the decision No. 53/13 dated 03.28.2013 for the tender “Supply and installation of cameras at traffic lights and in schools”- re-evaluation.

To prove this, please click on the links regarding the decisions in question: (http://oshp.rks-gov.net/repository/docs/vendimet/2013/Instalimi-i-kamerave-ne-semafor-dhe-ne-shkolla.pdf http://oshp.rks-gov.net/repository/docs/vendimet/2013/Furnizim_me_kripe_industriale.pdf http://oshp.rks-gov.net/repository/docs/vendimet/2013/Montimi-i-kamerave-ne-semafor.pdf)
Prishtina Municipality through a public reaction, on Sunday has unjustly accused FOL Movement.
In our report, we did not defend any businesses, but we only referred to the PRB decisions. Therefore Municipal charges are absurd and show their unwillingness to be monitored and to be confronted with the facts provided by civil society for their actions with taxpayer money.
FOL Movement regularly monitors several ministries, and which are included in yesterday’s report, public companies (KEC and PTK) and municipalities. Thus, our monitoring does not involve only the Municipality of Prishtina, but also seven other institutions of different levels.

We consider that it is not the responsibility of the municipality to tell us when we should react. As a matter of fact, we have also reacted to the issue that they have raised in their response.
Through a reaction on 1st February 2013, FOL has requested formation of an Ad Hoc Committee for biometric passports scandal. For more information check the link: https://ëëë.facebook.com/notes/l%C3%ABvizja-fol/kuvendi-i-kosov%C3%ABs-t%C3%AB-krijoj%C3%AB-komision-ad-hoc-p%C3%ABr-hetim-parlamentar-n%C3%AB-mpb-dhe-in/10151421106389413).
Therefore, we consider that municipality’s response does not deal with the content, but with the interpretation of the reaction as they please.
We make it clear to Prishtina Municipality that our engagement is public, therefore we defend public interest. FOL’s staff consisted of 15 people is engaged to make responsible and conscientious the public officials who are not at all levels of government.
Our mission is and remains the support of Good Governance and Active Citizenry

Prishtina, May 4 – Today published its regular report “Procurement Monitor” for January-March 2013 period. This report shows law violations and irregularities of the ministries, public enterprises (KEC and PTK) and municipalities during public procurement procedures.

Kenan Tora from FOL Movement said that “Ministries, Public Enterprises (KEC and PTK) and Municipalities of the Republic of Kosovo in the first three months of this year have continued with law violations and irregularities in public procurement. In this three – month period, the above-mentioned institutions have committed violations in 20 different tenders. According to the Procurement Review Body, 17 of these 20 tenders were returned for re-evaluation, and 3 of them have been returned to re-tender.”
According to the findings of this report, ministries have violated provisions of public procurement in three different tenders, followed by KEC and PTK which have committed violations in 11 different tenders, and municipalities have committed violations in 6 tenders.

Considering the high level of misuse and corruption affairs, as well as the low level of transparency of public procurement procedures, Kenan Tora stated that “FOL Movement has recommended the amendment of the Law on Public Procurement, in order to prepare a proper legal basis for electronic procurement.” This, according to the representatives of this movement, “would have a direct effect on increasing transparency and accountability, and reduce the possibility of abuse and violations in this area.

Prishtina, April 21 – FOL Movement, within its anti-corruption activities, has drafted a new platform: Corruption Statistics in Kosovo. This was making possible thanks to the three-year work of FOL staff in monitoring corruption in Kosovo.
Armend Mazreku, a researcher at FOL Movement, said that “There will be a regular publication of statistics showing corruption beyond public perception within this new platform, allowing the general public and public institutions to read these data on their way in order to better understand and analyze their performance and give their contribution in the areas where improvement is needed.”

This platform includes comparative data of institutions, agencies, media and international reports regarding the level of corruption in Kosovo.

Armend Mazreku, during the presentation of the data of this platform, stressed that: “Based on the published data, Prosecutions in Kosovo in 2011 have filed 214 charges, while in 2012 they have filed 172 charges. Courts have solved 136 cases in 2011, while in 2012 they solved 180 cases. Police have arrested 97 people in 2011 and 56 in 2012. Kosovo’s government in 2011 has approved four anti – corruption decisions and four others 4 in 2012 as well. Anti – Corruption Agency in 2011 sent to the prosecution 39 cases, while in 2012 they sent 52 cases. Regarding the conflict of interest, the Agency has identified 54 cases in 2011 and 131 cases in 2012. Agency for the Administration of Confiscated Property in 2011 has administered seized assets worth about 73 thousand Euros, while in 2012 over 2.5 million Euros.”

Prishtina, April 8, 2013 – Declaration of assets by public officials has been and remains one of the most sensitive issues in the fight against corruption. Due to the fact that, since 2010, when the Law on Declaration, Origin and Control of Assets of Senior Public Officials was approved, figures that these officials have openly published over the years indicate their involvement in corrupt practices and lack of transparency toward citizens of Kosovo.

Last year, FOL Movement has developed a platform. In this platform are included 224 public officials and are calculated and compared their assets over the years. As in most of them, there is a big discrepancy, we asked the authorities, such as state prosecution, to initiate investigations regarding declarations of officials, but we did not see any serious investigation so far.
As already known, the deadline of declaration of assets by public officials was by the end of last month. According to the above mentioned law, the publication of declaration forms should be within two months on the website of Anti-Corruption Agency. However, the Agency published its annual report few days ago, which among others mentioned 9 public officials who have millions of dollars difference in the declaration of assets over a period of 4 years.

We know that the law allows a period of two months until the declaration forms are made public, but for the sake of transparency in public, the Agency should make public the names of these officials who became millionaires. Such a requirement would also allow the prosecution and investigation authorities (police and prosecution) have a basis for initiating investigations against these officials who have robbed public budget to get rich. This is actually responsibility of Agency; on the other hand it would facilitate the work of media, non-governmental organizations and society in general.
However, once the declaration forms will be made public by the Agency, FOL will incorporate them into its platform (http://www.levizjafol.org/al/deklarimet) and then everyone interested can observe the differences of annual declaration of senior public officials.

In 2009 FOL Movement had reinstated the Karl Popper Debate Program in Kosovo. This program has been one of the most attractive programs for the youth of Kosovo to develop their critical thinking, creativity and research skills on various social, political, economic and cultural domains.

Since then FOL has expanded the program to more than ten municipalities, has engaged and trained nearly 1,000 high school students, has organized local, regional and national tournaments, and has participated in various international competitions, where young people have shown extraordinary skills of debating culture. Due to its work and commitment, in 2010 FOL has become a member of the International Debate Education Association (www.idebate.org), whose mission consists on developing a global culture of debate.

Considering the progress of this program in many municipalities in Kosovo, seeing a great interest of Kosovo’s youth for inclusion in this program, and considering that FOL Movement has begun to work with the new strategy 2013-2015 (approved in December 2012), the Karl Popper Debate Program is being transformed into an independent organization.

This program has been consistently supported by the Kosovo Foundation for Open Society (KFOS), as well as some municipalities and central institutions of the Republic of Kosovo.

FOL Movement will continue its unconditional support for the new Debate Center organization, and hopefully the partner organizations will do it as well.

Prishtina, March 3rd – Today FOL Movement held a press conference publishing annual report “Corruption Monitor 2012”, which represents all activities of responsible institutions for fighting and Preventing corruption for the period January-December 2012 .

Fidan Kalaja from FOL Movement said that “the fight against corruption is not only based on public promises without any support in practical actions but it has also taken another dimension considering anti-corruption fight and policies only as a criteria and pressure from international community disregarding the contextual circumstances and needs. He further added that “the progress in the fight against corruption remains one of the most important criteria of Kosovo integration in EU, the EU mission of rule of law in Kosovo, EULEX which is responsible also fighting corruption was not that effective fighting corruption and was criticized also by the European Court of Auditors “.

Whereas, Armend Mazreku researcher at FOL Movement, stressed that “this policy report shows the absolute lack of seriousness of public institutions to prevent and fight corruption.” He further stated that “the institutions responsible for fighting corruption have not taken sufficient measures needed to reduce the high level of corruption in public institutions.”
According to the findings of this report, the Government of Kosovo during 2012 has issued only five decisions against corruption: a) approval of the Strategy and Anti- Corruption Action Plan for 2013 to 2017, b ) establishment of an Executive Committee (which includes Anti -Corruption policies and judiciary ), c ) termination of two board members , one member of the Board of Directors of ” Hidrodrini” Sh.A. from Peja, and another member of the board of directors in Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEK), d) approval of the draft – law on Enhanced Competencies for confiscation of the property illegally obtained, f) approval of two concept papers: Drafting the draft-law on amending the law on Declaration and Origin of Assets of Senior Public Officials, as well as a draft law on amending the law on Prevention of conflict of Interest in of public functions.

Furthermore, according to this report, regular municipal courts in Kosovo transferred 197 cases from the previous years. These courts throughout 2012 have filed a total of 169 cases, while 366 are active cases. Regular municipal courts during 2012 have solved a total of 148 cases. Meanwhile, at the end of the reporting period, 218 cases have remained unsolved.
According to prosecution statistics related to anti-corruption, it results that they have transferred 802 cases from the previous years. During the same period of one year, 376 new cases have been filed. 140 proposal charges were filed and 132 charges. 770 cases have been solved and 990 cases remained unsolved. At the end of the reporting period there were265 unsolved criminal charges.
According to the statistics of the Department of Economic Crimes and Corruption Investigation (DECCI), which operates within Kosovo Police, it appears that during the year 2012 were conducted investigations against 157 people, 56 were arrested, 129 were sent to the prosecution with identified perpetrators, one case was sent to the prosecution with N / N and 19 cases were sent with Prosecutor’s report.

Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) in 2012, according to this report has been mainly focused on three activities in the fight against corruption: declaration of assets, as one of the main legal obligations to senior public officials, where according to ACA in 2012 91.71% of the officials declared their assets. They reviewed a number of cases of conflict of interest, and issued an analysis on the prosecution and adjudication of corruption cases in Kosovo.

Gjakova, February 23, 2013 – Today FOL Movement held in Gjakova a debate ” Annual performance of Municipality of Gjakova – Transparency and Accountability”. Panelist in this debate was Pal Lekaj, the Mayor of Gjakova. Other participants were representatives of political parties in the municipality, municipal councilors, chairman of the local communities, media and civil society representatives.

Petrit Zogaj, executive director of FOL Movement said that this debate is one of the debates that FOL is implementing, both at the central and local levels, that is in Gjakova and Podujeva. “The purpose of this debate is to discuss on the annual planning of the municipality of Gjakova in 2012, analyzing decision-making and transparency that should characterize any democratic government.”

In the meanwhile, the Mayor of Gjakova Pal Lekaj during the presentation of Gjakova municipality annual performance said that Gjakova is known as the most transparent municipality in Kosovo. Mayor’s Office, according to him, issued in 2012, 150 decisions for the benefit of the citizens whereas we have only 3 complaints. “During 2012 regarding the public procurement, the municipality of Gjakova had 87 tenders, there were only two complaints, one is retendered and one is approved,”.

Lekaj said that the municipality which he governs also leads in terms of citizens’ participation in various projects, where their value amounts to 600 thousand Euros. A challenge for the mayor Lekaj is reconstruction of the Grand Bazaar. “The responsibility of the Grand Bazaar is a challenge for us. Yesterday, the Ministry of Culture approved a decision where within three months they will deal with this issue,” said Lekaj.
According to him, the municipality of Gjakova is the only municipality which has no corruption affair, the political staff as well as the administration.
Recommendations of the Auditor, Grand Bazaar, Economic Growth of Gjakova, the situation of communities in Gjakova, transparency of public money were just some of the concerns raised by the participants, who addressed to mayor Pal Lekaj.

Meanwhile, Shpetim Rudi from AKR said “From 10 recommendations that the Auditor General has given in 2010 for the Municipality of Gjakova, only one of them is respected” Mr. Rudi, further said that “in 2012, there were various violations in public procurement, providing single source tenders, signing contracts without funds committed, then the problems with construction permits and many other violations that characterize local governance in Gjakova. Debate continued concerning the Old Bazaar, then the persistent problems in infrastructure projects and unrealized projects in 2012.

Prishtina , 21st February – Today is the second anniversary of the government Thaçi 2 . Exactly two years ago , Kosovo’s citizens had hoped that the Kosovo government will be ” a government with clean hands.” Expectations of the citizens , but also international mechanisms , had come after a three -year period of bad governance of PDK and LDK, parties which showed that the only thing they couldn’t do was a democratic and transparent governance. Thus, with a bad governance for three years , creating major corruption scandals , and showing unwillingness to build a new state , the largest party of the coalition , PDK , two years ago tried to create illusions about a “government with clean hands ” , as it was called at that time. However , this period was very short and very quickly proved the opposite .

We, as FOL Movement, exactly two years ago had requested that the Assembly of Kosovo, respectively the Assembly members should have been very careful about what government they will vote. We had symbolically thrown “detergent and soap”, to give the message that they should elect a government with clean hands.
Because of numerous corruption affairs during these two years, Kosovo government has proven that it is a government of corruption and also a government with dirty hands.

All what we remember, during this two-year period, are numerous corruption scandals. Some of them are as follows:
• A Deputy Prime Minister is accused of corrupt practices, and is on trial;
• A Deputy Prime Minister is involved in a case of corruption with the privatization of Grand Hotel;
• Corruption cases of senior officials of Ministry of Health;
• A few months ago another scandal emerged and which went beyond Kosovo, publishing biometric passports. In this grave corruption affair, Natali Veliaj mentioned involvement of senior officials of the MIA, whereas Minister Rexhepi continued his work up to date as if nothing had happened.

Therefore, we as a FOL Movement organized such a performance, which in addition to its symbolic character has a character of revolt as well against the high level of political corruption of this government, which during this two year period has governed with dirty hands.

Prishtina, 16 February – FOL Movement today published the report “Procurement Monitor 2012″, which shows the legal irregularities and violations of Ministries, Municipalities and Public Enterprises committed during the procurement procedures in different tenders. Further, in this report, FOL Movement presented an analysis of the problems and challenges encountered during the direct monitoring of procurement procedures in various contracting authorities and a comparative trend of violations of the above-mentioned institutions in 2011 and 2012.
Petrit Zogaj at this conference said that ” on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the state of Kosovo, Kosovo’s institutions have shown poor reliability in the rule of law, specifically regarding corruption and organized crime “. According to him “if the violations and corruption affairs in public procurement committed by institutions are considered , it is obvious that the statements and anti – corruption strategies already are neither serious nor useful “.

Seeing that this sector is the most corrupted, we asked the Assembly to establish an ad – hoc committee for parliamentary investigations in many ministries regarding the implementation of public procurement procedures and especially in the Ministry of Internal Affairs . According to Petrit Zogaj this is imperative considering that “only the biometric passports scandal , not only endangered the process of visa liberalization , but it also exposed clearly the institutional irresponsibility of the Government and various ministers .” Misuses and corruption in public procurement affairs not only must be addressed by government institutions , but they also should be paid attention by the institutions of the justice system by putting a priority sector for investigation and prosecution of corruption affairs in this sector .

Kenan Torah presented the findings of the report stating that “the ministries of the Republic of Kosovo in 2012 have committed numerous legal violations in total 27 different tenders.” Among them the ministries with most offenses is Ministry of Infrastructure committing violations in six tenders, and then the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports with violations in 5 tenders, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development in 4 tenders, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Kosovo Security Force in two tenders.
On the other hand ministries with violations in only one tender are Ministry of Communities and Returns, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Public Administration, Ministry of Finances, Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning. From 27 tenders, thirteen (13) returned to re-tender, twelve (12) are back for re-evaluation, and two procurement activities are entirely canceled.

Public enterprises in 2012 did not develop procurement procedures in accordance with legal provisions in twenty (20) different tenders. Kosovo Energy Corporation has violated twelve (12) tenders, while Post and Telecom of Kosovo has committed violations in eight (8) different procurement activities. 4 of them returned to re-tender, 15 have are back for re-evaluation, and one procurement activity is canceled completely.

Municipalities in 2012 failed to comply with provisions in a total of 27 procurement activities. Twelve (12) returned to re-tender, 14 for re-evaluation and one tender is canceled. Municipality of Gjilan has committed the most violations in 4 tenders. Then the Municipality of Ferizaj, Gjakova and Peja in 3 tenders. Meanwhile, with violations in two tenders are Municipality of Prizren, Mitrovica and Kamenica. And with violations in only one tender are the Municipality of Prishtina, Shterpce, Shtimje, Lipjan, Suhareka, Vitia, Novoberda and Kllokot.
From about 74 tenders where are identified irregularities and legal violations, in only 64 of them is provided the monetary value of these tenders. The approximate amount of money which has been potentially endangered by the misuse during realization of these procurement procedures has been around 15 million Euros.

Report on Law Violations of Ministries, Municipalities and Public Enterprises January – December 2012

 

Prishtina, January 25, 2013 – FOL Movement, within the preparations for implementing the research “Transparency Index” for 2012, has held a meeting with information officials of Kosovo municipalities. Participants in this meeting were officials of 15 municipalities of Kosovo: Vushtrri, Peja, Obiliq, Drenas, Graçanica, Istog, Suhareka, Kamenica, Gjilan, Klina, Skenderaj and Novoberde.
FOL Movement, has realized the research “Transparency Index”, for the third time, where this year will include also an assessment of transparency at the municipal level, unlike the previous years where part of this report were only central institutions and public enterprises .
FOL Movement since its establishment, as a part of its commitment has been promoting transparency and accountability of public institutions. Even in this year FOL will organize various activities dealing with transparency as a key point in the development of democracy in Kosovo.