Over three billion euros in citizens' savings in commercial banks

Even though representatives of the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo have consistently confirmed that the financial system is secure, stable, with some citizens the dilemma of how secure savings are in the event of liquidation of any of the banks operating in Kosovo.

A citizen from Pristina, Agnes Kastrati, who works in the private sector, says that one of the commercial banks has to save a small sum of money, but that there is no information that in certain cases, tools can be jeopardised and whether there is a possibility of compensation.

I save from time to time in small amounts. I don't know who guarantees for this”, Kastrati says.

Otherwise, responsible for providing savings in Kosovo is the Deposit Insurance Fund in Kosovo.

The Kosovo Deposit Insurance Fund aims to secure the deposits of physical and legal persons at each member institution and compensate depositors secured to the safety limit within 30 days in the event of bank bankruptcy, according to the criteria laid down in the Law on Deposit Insurance.

Currently, depositors are provided for each member bank of this Fund, up to the maximum amount of compensation of five thousand euros.

On the other hand, experts on economic issues consider that citizens who have managed to save tools in commercial banks operating in Kosovo have the secure money because the security of financial institutions is at the right level.

Economics expert Naim Gashi, in a conversation for Radio Free Europe, says the majority of deposits from financial institutions in Kosovo are stored in European Union countries, as the largest number of banks are internationally owned, and as high as depositors are in the European countries, as many Kosovo citizens are at risk of saving.

I think the mechanisms, which the Central Bank of Kosovo created, guarantee depositors in Kosovo and do not depend on the safety of depositors from the Deposit Guarantee Fund. However, security depends on continued controls made by the Central Bank to the commercial bank in Kosovo, and including cash insurance, deposits and other guarantees”, Gashi says.

In spite of that, Gashi says the limit of compensation of five thousand euros, if the bank is unable to fulfil its financial obligations, is very low.

I think that this value is very small, for the fact that it only affects people with low incomes, because deposits are at higher levels and I think that this amount has to increase more than it is now”, Gashi points out.

On the other hand, Kosovo Republic of Kosovo Central Bank officials say Radio Free Europe, based on published financial mirrors, about 80 percent of citizens' deposits have been issued by credit-shaped banks, for which they are licensed. The rest, on the other hand, is an investment in government-worth paper, cash, and is said to be in an answer to the Central Bank of Kosovo.

By contrast, under the Law to provide deposits in Kosovo, the Fund will restore every physical and judicial person -- the sum of the combined total value of deposits secured in all deposit storage accounts in the institution where the security event in Kosovo has taken place.