Fund for the north amounts to around 15m euros, allegations of misuse raise

This fund was established on the basis of the interim customs agreement reached in the Kosovo dialogue Serbia in 2013.

With this agreement, it was lived in practice that money collected through the Jarina and Brnjak border points be dedicated to the Fund for Development of the Northern Mitrovica municipality, Leposaviqi, Zubin Potok and Zvecan.

The goal of establishing the Development Trust Fund was to raise the quality of life so that economic development in these municipalities is equal to the level of other municipalities in Kosovo. Also, one of the goals was the integration of the north into the country's social and economic flows.

In a response sent to Radio Europe Free from the Office for Information of the Ministry of Finance, it is said that the network of tools transferred from 2013 to now from Kosovo's budget account to the Trust Development Fund account is 14,414,350.14 euros.

Over the years it is known that a lot of these tools in the four northern municipalities (North Mitrovica, Leposaviq, Zubin Potok and Zvecan) have been invested in various capital projects.

Lulzim Rafuna, adviser to Finance Minister Bedri Hamza, told Radio Free Europe that the aim of establishing the Fund has been integration and development of northern municipalities.

“Fondi will have an effect on the integration not only of Serbs, but of all communities living in these municipalities. We have reached the stage where all procedures of this fund are under way through Kosovo legislation, as it is known that by the time this fund started, we have not had the legal extent even in that part of Kosovo”, Rafuna said.

Meanwhile, according to Marko Jaksic from northern Mitrovica, connoisseur of developments in Kosovo, the means shared in this fund have not been used for proper projects. It raises doubts that the funds may even be misused.

It didn't affect anything. It was meant to promote the economic development of northern municipalities. But because of excessive bureaucracy, the funds from this fund have not been used for proper things and infrastructure projects in the north. So that money is standing in the accounts and I'm afraid some day it will be misused”, Jaksic said.

In a proposal for Radio Free Europe, Jaksic said the tools spent by this fund have no clean value that could affect improving the lives of citizens living in these municipalities.

I don't know exactly, but the tools that are invested aren't big. It means, there are several hundred thousand euros, maybe up to one million of those 15 million that are currently available in the fund's accounts. So this is not a figure that could contribute to progress and development. If all the means from their dedication fund were used, then even the infrastructure in the north would be better”, Jaksic stressed.

On the other hand, Lulzim Rafuna, adviser to Finance Minister Bedri Hamza, said northern municipalities are very interested in this fund, but he reiterates that the fund cannot be spent on other purposes besides capital projects.

“We, both the Minister of Finance and the representative of the European Union in Kosovo, Natalia Apostolova, have invited four northern municipalities to hand over the projects so that that that that part can develop, Rafuna stressed.

The Fund for the North since its establishment was meant to be temporary, and according to Rafuna, this fund will be suspended depending on the estimates made with international partners.