April-June spending programme approved for RTK

Commission Chairman for Buxhet Armen Munja said they are only adopting it because they only have until Friday to approve the access of the means for the next three months, he said such a report would not have the support of the LVV Parliamentary Group.

After 2021 project analysis with the spending plan still continues the same differences, we are not in a position at the moment, even though we are very committed to making sure that every public money goes into place and as it is envisioned and passed under the law we don't have enough time to go on either, because tomorrow we have the legal deadline for accessing tools. We make a recommendation to be accommodated on the condition that working group determine what the working format will be; 2: To join 2021 projections with the projections you have now and; 3: On the condition that then in the future financial report with the new format expenses be introduced since January-June”, he said.

Also approved at this commission meeting is the report of Kosovo Radio Television spending for the months of January-March 2021, but that this report has also been adopted with remarks.

Director RTK's Victor Kastrati, has now declared debt RTK is 2m and 750 thousand euros, but said it aims to reduce the same for 1m euros by the end of this year.

If we look at the audience's financial mirrors which are public, we have a debt at the end of 2018, 5 million and 200 thousand euros, today when we've submitted the final March report we've sent to the Assembly is a debt of 2 million and 750 thousand euros. It's about 2 and a half million less, we believe that by the end of this year the debt of RTK's got to fall for another million euros”, he said.

RTK accounting manager Halil Bajramiaj said debt RTK was created from the moment the Constitutional Court's pre-emptive contract was terminated, which said this debt had only gone deeper.

“Borgi has been created from the moment when pre-profession contracts through the Constitutional Court have been terminated, meaning September 30th 2009, for October three months, November, December we have had no prepaid agreements in this case with KEK, from there the debts have begun. The debt has deepened even more in 2011 because in 2010 we have been separated from the budget of 10 and a half million, while in 2011 we have been divided 2 million and a half less”, he said.

However, the chairman of the Commission for Buzhet, Armend Muja, said that in RTK for 2012, wage spending has come out of control.

“A problem on RTK, since 2012, wage spending has come out of control, meaning this is the gap, 2012 is key that they have begun spending on goods and services and capital investments declined, while wage spending has come non-stop growing. I admit that last year there were reductions, we looked at the data, but for us it was a little bit explanatory why there was no increase in marketing revenues while the number of workers at marketing has increased from 2 to 14. If there wasn't an extra income for RTK's number of workers at the General Directorate has increased from 8 to 34”, he said.

The salary issue has been accepted by the director of RTK's defeat Kastrati, but who said that it also affects the increase in wages done by law and advances.

And if we look at it in 2019 and 2020, and then in 2021, there's an increase, I'm not saying that there's no increase, no matter how many we haven't hired, it means for two years there are more than 60 people who aren't working, they don't have contracts with RTK because some have retired, some have died. Meanwhile, we only had one competition and 15 people were hired. What certainly increases is the regulation and the law, every year RTK workers have a 0.5 per cent salary, and when you get that large number of workers, it certainly comes to an increase. Also, by law and by regulation, it belongs to workers who, after a major job experience and advance, of course, have a cost of”, Kastrati said.

The topic of discussion on this commission again became the employment of RTK board chairman Sali Basota in the institution.

LVV MP Visar Korenica said that Bashatta's son-in-law has been under contract for services from August 1st to December 31st, which he said is a conflict of interest.

You have violated our country's laws, the law for public officials. So your son-in-law had contracts for services from August 1st to December 31st, and that's a conflict of honorable interest, chief. You as chairman of the board should be an example to others and I consider that you have violated the law for public officials for conflict of interest”, he said.

In his response, RTK Board Chairman Sali Basota said he had said last week that no family member works at RTK. Until he said he had no influence on his son-in-law getting hired in a public medium, he said he went with another relationship.

I didn't sign a contract with my son-in-law, if I had signed, do you believe I thought it was 4 months, he was 5, and then I checked it out? Actually, he didn't keep the contract, and I didn't do the contract, if I had made a contract with my son-in-law it would have been, and it's gone into another relationship, not that I've interfered, not that I've even dealt with it. Perhaps it is not my son-in-law in the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo that is the only one employed or his family. I think you're going too far with this. You've got yourself into some really bad shit, I'm sorry. The form that you insist on at two ongoing meetings to accommodate me in this way is unprecedented by an MP in the Republic of Kosovo, I am sorry to understand even a form of blackmail as an injury to my academic personality”, he said.

To Bashat's statement that his son-in-law has been hired through other ties, LVV deputy Eman Rhaman has reacted, who has not received answers from Basota through which connection his son-in-law has been employed in RTK.

There has been a clash between LVV deputy Visar Korenica and RTK director Kastrati. The first has asked whether RTK's management has a plan for reducing the number of workers due to overcrowding with workers in the institution.

In his reply, the director RTK's, Victor Kastrati, said it plans to increase the number of workers and develop the programme even more.

No, I plan to hire and develop the program, I'm telling you now you can't tell me what my plan is. My plan is to increase the number of workers”, he said.

Following this statement, LVV deputy Wissar Kornica has reacted, who said it is a strategy for how to accommodate family members and not how to increase RTK's revenues.

You have public responsibility, you're managing a public company, it's meaningless based on the value and statistics of revenues to say here that I'm looking at how to increase the number of employees and not how to increase the income number. This is not the strategy of a director, this is the strategy of how to settle down relatives and family members, which such a practice we know all that happened in RTK, we have a husband and wife hired”, Korenica said.

At the end of the discussions, LV deputy Artan Korenica has also had a question for the former Kosovo prime minister and now MP Avdullah Hoti, but has not received answers from him. Hoti has refused to answer, saying he is not in reporting.

I have a question for Mr. Hoti, in connection with the case, is about the board and RTK. On November 12th, you made a statement regarding the selection of RTK general director who was not legally appointed, and so you said the board was dysfunctional, and you also said calculated debt spending has not been accurate, just whether these findings are still on your side or not, he said.

At today's meeting, the Commission for Business, Work and Transfera has approved the budget for the Mitrovica municipality for 2021 and the annual report of Kosovo Assembly spending for 2020.