Loss of court cases cost Pristina municipality 1.8m euros

The Pristina municipality's treasury has executed payment worth 1,875,280 euros from the municipality budget directly to the economic operator (OE).

From the tests, the National Auditor Office in the 2017 report noted that for 28 payments executed according to the orders of private depositors worth $867,397, the municipality had paid additional expenses worth 36,755, for the owner.

“Although we have not received the written response, the execution of payments from the Treasury comes from entering the pledge without a pre-designment of the means, in lack of budget, from accepting services under expired contracts”, says the auditing report for financial mirrors for the year concluded on December 31st 2017 of the Postine Commission.

According to the audience, the forms of payment through judicial decisions endanger the realisation of planned capital projects from which the means for payment are taken, as well as causing additional budget damage due to end expenses.

This form of payment also increases the risk of the operator deliberately not bringing in the bills in order to benefit the parties involved”, the report continues.

The audience has recommended that the mayor take appropriate action in order to interrupt the established practices of payment with court decisions or direct payments from the treasury.

“Their avoidance should be carried out by strictly respecting public procurement rules (good management of contracts from planning, execution to reporting them), as well as treasury regulations regarding the commitment of time tools and other steps until the execution of payments”, the report says.

Also, the audience noted that the value of the municipality's potential debt revealed in the Annual Financial Mirror (PFV) was 6,180,290, and the same was raised for 1,283,225m by the previous year. This potential debt is actually the values of claims that economic operators have in front of the municipality.

The municipal's contingent obligations concerned various issues, such as property, administrative, criminal residential, damages compensation, and others raised by disgruntled prosecution parties.

Their “Relation and loss of cases in courts (resulting) can affect the budget, which is planned to be spent on other projects”, the report says.

According to the audience, the high level of contingent obligations (the potential debt) could exacerbate the municipality's financial situation if the court's final decisions favour the prosecution parties.

The National Audition Office has recommended that the mayor should initiate an assessment of the financial impact that claims and indictments may have on the municipality budget, and analyze the possibilities for the current situation regarding contingent obligations.