Haradinaj government spent half of state reserves

 The Kosovo government has spent nearly half of its state reserves for the first three months of this year. To spend these means of concern, Finance Minister Bedri Hamza also raised, saying that “reserves are going to the end of”.

Out of about 4m and 800 thousand euros have been earmarked as state reserves under this year's Annual Budget Law, by the first week of this month, more than 2m euros have been spent, Kosovo Finance Ministry spokesman Muharrem Shahini told Radio Free Europe.

“Minister Hamza has publicly demanded that demands be planned in time and included within regular budget planning. While state reserves have been preserved for cases under no circumstances have been able to be planned, as may happen in cases of disasters or something else, which are not meant by budget”, Sahin said.

Under the law, unforeseen expenditures or state reserves can be spent only on emergencies and unforeseen occasions.

The relevant budgetary organisations can apply to the ministry for additional funding, but which on the app should explain why these funds could not be predicted.

Alarmingly, it calls the government's way of spending public money led by Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, as well as MP Lumir Abdixhiku from the ranks of the Democratic League of Kosovo.

Abdixhiku, who is also chairman of the Kosovo Parliament's Commission for Business and Finance, told Radio Free Europe that state reserves are chaoticly divided, without any specific criteria or reasons.

If state reserves have been exhausted since the beginning of this year, then leave little room for other unpredictable spending throughout the year. The main responsibility for spending such means falls exclusively on the Government and the prime minister of Kosovo, who have arbitraryly shared these instruments”, Abdixhiku stressed.

Otherwise, a greater amount of financial resources from state reserves have been separated for the organisation of different manifestations and energy.

Experts on economic issues say that the use of state resources was unreasonable, since, according to them, these tools should be spent on emergency cases.

Majid Bektashi professor at Pristina University, says competent institutions have had to find other tools for financing various activities and not do so through funding from state reserves.

“This can be completed through the third part of the year budget revision, and it would be good for these vehicles to be not only 4.8m euros but to be two or three times higher and to be used for covering the most emergency cases”, Bektash says.

In addition to sharing financial means, the Republic of Kosovo has started collecting state reserves, especially needed items, which should be used for the needs of supplying citizens in cases of war or various disasters.