2.5 euros per month for RTK in KED bills, decision considered plunder of citizens

He has said that with the attempt to finance RTK, through KEDS, it's a robbery that power is doing to citizens.

“Pu State is trying to place the citizens' looting tax (in KED's hands) today, the Parliamentary Commission for Media, followed the Bill for the Law. RTK for approval in the Kosovo Assembly” has written Ramadani.

He has added that this law is entirely at the expense of the citizens of the country, and as such, Vetevendosje has come against it.

“As V Movement MP I have rejected this bill in its entirety, because:

1. This bill unjustly taxes at 2.5 euros a month on Kosovo citizens. This decision to put it on the bill has been made without any public consultation. Such a tax collected through the electricity bill was widely disputed years ago, until it was declared unconstitutional.

2. The public broadcaster's financing and independence has never been seriously dealt with by the founder of this institution, respectively, despite the fact that there has been serious dilemma on RTK's independence.

3. They're seriously trying to give an additional mechanism to the Private Company, KEDS/ KESCO to plunder the citizen through the electricity bill, where the Limak-Calic consortium benefits about 3m euros annually.

4. RTK's budget has traditionally been decided arbitraryly without an independent scan of RTK's needs, which would indicate the reasonableness of this budget. In this regard, the 2.5-euro tax on any electricity rating is unreasonably financially and does not provide its editorial independence.

5. The bill leaves extraordinary opportunities for manipulations by KEDS/ CASCO because they didn't even define the provision. So the Limak-Calik consortium has free hands to drive Kosovo's citizen with a tax according to the free will of this company.

MP Ramadani has cited the way RTK would have to be financed and as such, as he has said to be perceived by political parties and the influence of Kosovo policy people.

“We consider that the public broadcaster needs to be backed by the ruling parties. The Commission must establish a law providing for true public broadcaster independence, which has never happened since RTK's establishment. This broadcaster is extremely absorbed in power interests mainly through its management. There is definitely a lasting and long-term solution to funding. We even raised this subject dozens of times. But this should precede a deep process of auditing the financial situation, contracts and structural organisation of this institution of particular importance. The current governing structure of RTK is designed to serve the structure of their power and clients.

This is certainly in sharp contrast with the work of dozens of professionals who are being spent more and more every day to open up a seat to the power clientele that skpo has no chair to settle within RTK”, Valon Ramadani's reaction concludes.