How was the Ali Ministry helped “FRUTEX/Golden Eagle” pay off the debt of several million, for three years paid in addition to 127 euros?

“We are the biggest producer of cans in the Balkans, even further than in the Balkans”, the owner of “declared on a television show FRUTEX/Golden Eagle”, Shaqir Palushi, while on his Facebook page, has posted how only the Golden Eagle drink of this company, which has many other products, is sold at six pieces per second.

Despite all this remarkable success, however, this company for its water permits from 2019 to 2021 has paid only 127 euros and 40 cents in obligations to the state.

As long as, according to the calculations of experts who have engaged the Special Prosecutor during the investigation into the misuse of debts for water divers, this company is estimated to have a total debt, which remains to be determined precisely in later stages about 3 million and 500 thousand euros.

As far as the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure had concluded that this company acted outside water permits, changed the water source illegally and without legal notice, with the help of Naser Hafizi, already in custody due to illegal debt write-off for water management companies, “FRUTEX” manages to pay in a legal decision only 127 euros for the total of three years.

For this illegal and other decision, besides Naser Hafizi, the leader of the River Forests Authority in the Ministry of Environment, Space Planning and Infrastructure has also been arrested, Izedin Bytyqi, secretary of the ministry, and have started investigations into Minister Lieburn Aliu himself.

As stated in the Special Prosecutor's File, “March 11, 2022 (Naser Hafizi) has initiated the financial decision to assess financial obligation for the Economic Operator FRUTEXH, which as an activity has the production and ambalnification of refreshing fluids, which for the month of July 2019 through December 2021, determines financial obligation of 127 euros and 40 cents”.

So, company “FRUTEX”, except that it had opened the illegal source of water supply to produce company beverages, had not paid correctly even the source for which it had originally obtained water permits.

Albanian Post has secured the financial decision the Prosecutor speaks of in case files.

Under that decision, issued on March 11th 2022 and signed by Naser Hafizi and Izedin Bytyqi, “FRUTEX” was enabled to pay the total debt in full symbolic payments.

Decision point two says “The total debt for July 2019, 2020 and 2021 for the aforementioned company is 127 euros and 40 cents”.

Albanian Post also provided permission that “FRUTEX” had received from the ministry in 2013.

It says that this company applies for only 5 liters per second, on the other hand, public statements by the company's own owner indicate that the company produces at least three times allowed by permission.

The same company, as the Albanian Post reported, was found to be another illegal, unannounced, and without permission, from which water was supplied for the production of beverages.

“THE FRUTEX” even in the past had paid only symbolic figures for the permission it owned for water extraction for company purposes.

For example, payment for 2018 to 2019 is only 29 euros and 30 cents.

All this evidence is in possession of the prosecution, which is continuing the investigation.

Following the arrests of Naser Hafizi and Izedin Bytyqi, investigations have already expanded towards Minister Liburn Aliu.

“There is reasonable doubt that during the period from 2021 to 2024 in the quality of the official person in the position of the minister with the intention of illegally benefiting property for himself or others and to cause damage to Kosovo's budget, it has misused its official position by failing to fulfill its official duties and responsibilities”, said at the prosecution's decision.

However, in this scheme of paying off millions of debt bills for total debt waste, many other officials are involved.

Albanian Post has begun reporting on abuses with water bookers in April this year.

It had all started when a beacon inside the ministry told the media about major abuses. She, too, had notified the prosecution.

Prior to that, the same had announced Minister Aliu's abuses, and also through e-mail he had contacted Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

After the alarm he had sparked within the institutions, to the same had begun internal persecution, degradation from position and attempts to completely remove him from the workplace.

Further investigation of the prosecution is expected to clarify more about this case, which is received in total, even according to the case's beacon, but the experts on this case, is about 90m euros that ambalnants owe to the state for not paying water issued from Kosovo's resources to sell later in the form of ambalated water, or refreshing beverages. /AP

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