For a year in customs, about 40 cases under investigation for misuse of official duty

In Kosovo Customs alone, for allegedly misuse of official office, 40 cases have been addressed within a year, while in the process of corruption there are more than 10 customs officials who are also suspended from work until a court-cut decision.

Kosovo Customs Directors claim there are customs officials who are under suspicion of misuse of official office, while in the early years there have been officials of this institution even convicted of corruption.

Out of the 400 thousand different procedures for follow-up within a year, customs acknowledges 700-800 complaints by various subjects.

Customs Director Bahri Berisha in an interview for Kosovo Press says customs is one of the few institutions in Kosovo that himself investigate these negative phenomena. That, according to him, has contributed to a much greater effect, because of the staff working in customs itself, the work that anyone can misuse is investigated, which can be responded more quickly.

Berisha says that no customs official has tolerance, there is an even suspended number that are already out of office due to doubts in their official work.

We also on an annual basis even part of the staff from the information that we possess, whether by citizens or businesses, we treat through disciplinary or criminal procedures. Each year, the number of 30-40 cases within customs that we deal with on ethical, not professional issues can go into. Where there are indicators, where we have fundamental doubts, but even material evidence of misuse of official duty, we pass them to the prosecutor for criminal treatment. We have to work much harder in co-operation with citizens as well, but I appreciate that Customs has created some good mechanisms of administrative investigations, but also of criminal investigations”, Berisha declares.

Director Berisha claims they are awaiting court rulings for more than 10 officials, of whom he said that depending on formal form biass, he also acts customs.

The “we can say are over ten officials who are in court awaiting verdicts. This takes time, because we have more than a year since suspended officials are awaiting decisions. We had a desire to make faster decisions because those countries must either be fulfilled to those officials or return to official office. We want decisions to be deserved. In our practice, we have often faced decisions when they are conditional, fined or organised crime groups, to people who smuggle, but they are less likely to suffer the punishment that translates by conditions or pre-”, he says.

Although the number of complaints reached about 1000 against customs, the director Berisha says that figure shows it is a year-on-year trend, while adding that there are about 10 per cent to 15 per cent less complaints on annual grounds.

According to Berisha, Dogana is in service of businesses and government, until he said that the political and strategy of this institution is at the ease of trade and business relief without putting up any barriers.

The “Ankes in the direction of Dogan has a trend of decline even on the annual basis brought about 10 per cent to 15 per cent less complaints. Even that number of complaints we have compared to the procedures we develop is less than 0.02 per cent. We have over 400,000 different procedures that we develop within the year that are about 700,800 complaints, which shows that it's a positive trend of decline, that's thanks to the partnership we've built with the Economic Ods and business representatives. We have good cooperation. We also have confidence in dealing with common issues. We have meetings and consultations on a regular basis”, Berisha says.

Customs Director Berisha says that for the corruption investigation, customs conducts two first procedures, even the administrative issue, because if the code of ethics and the code of courtesy is violated, administrative actions of exemption are taken against those officials who have been divided by the prosecution. While, for criminal offence, courts decide, while administrative violations place internal commissions on the basis of regulations and guidelines that are within customs for exclusion, evacuation, degradation.

Otherwise, customs is one of the main sources for filling the state budget, which for 2019 this institution has managed to extract around 1.2 billion euros.