Trust Fund remains at risk, experts seek emergency measures

Investments from the Kosovo Pension Savings Fund (TRUST) are experiencing the worst period this year as a result of the crisis in international financial markets, and this has caused considered losses of citizens' savings in the country. However, the Trust has managed to recover some of the investments that suffered losses by July.

While around 60m euros have been recovered, economy experts warn that the declines considered in the Trust could further deepen due to the financial crisis in international markets.

Trust spokesman Jeton Demi has said Trust investments dropped by July to 161.6m euros, but stressed that the return of investments has reduced losses to less than 100m euros by September.

spokesperson Demi said that even as long as the situation in foreign markets continues, recovery will be difficult. There's been less than 100m euros of negative value for the current year. Now this is the negative situation for 2022, even as time continues, the recovery will be difficult, but there are movements that are deep, times less and less... For that period it has been, the period cut in those dates has been with that effect, but it is relative because it changes”, Demi said.

As for the measures the Trust has taken, Demi said citizens close to retirement are not affected by financial risks. The date we're talking about was (janar-corporal was minus 161m euros), and for the current date we're talking about, by the end of August, it was less than 100m euros... The main move, which has been this year, was the conservative portfolio created for contributors aged 63.5 and older, who are invested only in letters of value from the Kosovo government, so they are not affected by international performance and are at a positive return of about 2 per cent. The second move has been to reduce investments mainly in the stock market, and now nearly half of the investments are in letters worth the government of Kosovo, in bank deposits in Kosovo and in cash. That's how it's minimized, because we're three to four times the decline of less than the main global index”, Demi added.

Economics faculty professor Nagip Skkiner said that not to happen to the entire fund, the Trust Board, Government and Parliament should urgently take measures to prevent losses of hundreds of millions of euros from citizens' savings. Sk everyone said Trust is experiencing the worst crisis ever.

“It is disturbing how institutions, respectively, do not take measures in co-operation with the assembly institutions and the government that want these losses everywhere to be relatively easier or reduced. As long as Russian aggression lasts in Ukraine, Trust losses will deepen further. So for not to go to a total destruction of Trust tools in international markets, I think that the Kosovo government in co-operation with the Trust management, but also with the parliament, would have to change laws that are hindering the return of Trust's means to Kosovo, so that at least the means can be returned to the local market and a possible investment”, Sunder said. University professor warned that Trust tools are at risk for an additional decline.

“Of course the tools are at risk for a further fall of Trust on the international stock market, because the international economy is experiencing a drop of”, Skhareri added. As for the losses to the Trust, fellow university professor Wykan Bajra reminded the legal initiative in the Assembly months ago of withdrawing a percentage from the Trust.
According to Bajra, access to the Trust was and remains wrong. Recent reports are showing who was right to pull the tools.

When talking about withdrawing Trust vehicles months ago, there was a logical reason to consider allowing the use of these funds. Now those skeptics have disappeared, but it's good to go out now and find out where the guarantee that the return of investment after so many days instead of a positive return has a negative value. Therefore, access to the trust was and remains wrong, and now the FKPK public reports are showing who was right? Of the total tanks of over 2.2 billion euros of contributors, in September 2022 the return from the investment is negative with over 101m euros. So our contributions are down to over 101m euros, causing losses considered”, Bajra wrote.

Over 2.2 billion euros of funding are over 700 thousand contributors. / KP