Mystery surrounds fate of Kosovo money

There is still no control over money being allocated to Kosovo, while last year alone, Kosovo received EUR 430mn. While the Kosovo Serbs have been bemoaning their living conditions for years on end, speculation appears in the media on a daily basis of state officials receiving double salaries or money being spent on the same projects from the Kosovo and Serbian budgets. Mystery surrounds fate of Kosovo money While the majority of politicians in Belgrade swear allegiance to the “holy Serb land“, the Kosovo Serbs live in dilapidated houses made of unbaked brick. In summer it is too hot, while in winter they get flooded or are left to freeze. Last year, following suspicions of embezzlement of around EUR 16,000 from the state budget, former Kosovo Minister Slobodan Samardzic’s adviser was arrested, the first arrest of its kind for embezzlement of Kosovo Ministry funds. Samardzic told B92 that all dodgy dealings had been kept under control, that there had been only minor irregularities, and that his Democratic Party of Serbia had not discriminated along party lines. “I don’t know of any such situation. The human situation in Kosovo is awkward, because they live in terrible conditions, in poverty, and in uncertainty of state money. There’s little business or agriculture there. People are looking over their fences, there’s envy when someone gets money. I presume that that’s what lies at the heart of the problem,“ said Samardzic. The former minister also came in for criticism for employing 130 people at the ministry, though he said that he had inherited the majority, and that he was uncertain now whether he would have been able to secure money for other purposes with a smaller team. “For the job that I wanted us to do and which we did, I don’t think it was an excessive number. They were all very busy, they worked full throttle, and I don’t think there was any excess in terms of numbers. Without putting my hand on the fire, maybe we could have made some savings,“ he acknowledged. Randjel Nojkic, a long-serving deputy in the Kosovo assembly, said that embezzlement had been a feature even in the days when Nebojsa Covic had been president of the Coordination Body for Kosovo, adding that back then, state money had been siphoned off that had been destined for the purchase of Albanian homes for the Kosovo Serbs. “There are double contracts. When it came to sales, there was one price written in the contract, and another price handed over during the actual sale. That started when Nebojsa Covic was president of the Coordination Body for Kosovo, and it continued later,“ said Nojkic. Covic himself did not wish to give any detailed response to the accusations. He only said that everything had been done above aboard, that he was proud of everything they had done, and that Kosovo Minister Goran Bogdanovic was familiar with all projects in Kosovo. Bogdanovic told B92 that there had hitherto not been any control of money going to the province, but that the ministry had launched an initiative for those departments distributing money to correlate their figures, and, should any irregularities be identified, to forward all proof to the police and prosecution. “It’s well known that social welfare was not distributed adequately and that it was selective— sadly, even on party lines. For me it’s inconceivable that someone can be sending money, but that there’s no control instrument to see whether that money went to the right hands or was spent in the right manner,“ said Bogdanovic. Four years ago, then Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica created the Fund for Kosovo with the idea of raising money through donations from domestic and foreign businessmen. Bogdanovic said that the Funds’ chairman had been Bishop Artemije. “As far as the Kosovo Fund’s concerned, we, as a ministry, have no insight. We’ve only just started working on it, to see where funds have been going since 2005,“ he said. Bogdanovic’s predecessor said that the state had not devoted as much attention to the fund as it should have, and that the money had been drawn from the budget. Samardzic said that during his mandate, the Finance Ministry had never monitored the funds for Kosovo. Slobodan Samardzic (FoNet, archive)

Mystery surrounds fate of Kosovo money

While the majority of politicians in Belgrade swear allegiance to the “holy Serb land“, the Kosovo Serbs live in dilapidated houses made of unbaked brick.

In summer it is too hot, while in winter they get flooded or are left to freeze.

Last year, following suspicions of embezzlement of around EUR 16,000 from the state budget, former Kosovo Minister Slobodan Samardžić’s adviser was arrested, the first arrest of its kind for embezzlement of Kosovo Ministry funds.

Samardžić told B92 that all dodgy dealings had been kept under control, that there had been only minor irregularities, and that his Democratic Party of Serbia had not discriminated along party lines.

“I don’t know of any such situation. The human situation in Kosovo is awkward, because they live in terrible conditions, in poverty, and in uncertainty of state money. There’s little business or agriculture there. People are looking over their fences, there’s envy when someone gets money. I presume that that’s what lies at the heart of the problem,“ said Samardžić.

The former minister also came in for criticism for employing 130 people at the ministry, though he said that he had inherited the majority, and that he was uncertain now whether he would have been able to secure money for other purposes with a smaller team.

“For the job that I wanted us to do and which we did, I don’t think it was an excessive number. They were all very busy, they worked full throttle, and I don’t think there was any excess in terms of numbers. Without putting my hand on the fire, maybe we could have made some savings,“ he acknowledged.

Ranđel Nojkić, a long-serving deputy in the Kosovo assembly, said that embezzlement had been a feature even in the days when Nebojša Čović had been president of the Coordination Body for Kosovo, adding that back then, state money had been siphoned off that had been destined for the purchase of Albanian homes for the Kosovo Serbs.

“There are double contracts. When it came to sales, there was one price written in the contract, and another price handed over during the actual sale. That started when Nebojša Čović was president of the Coordination Body for Kosovo, and it continued later,“ said Nojkić.

Čović himself did not wish to give any detailed response to the accusations. He only said that everything had been done above aboard, that he was proud of everything they had done, and that Kosovo Minister Goran Bogdanović was familiar with all projects in Kosovo.

Bogdanović told B92 that there had hitherto not been any control of money going to the province, but that the ministry had launched an initiative for those departments distributing money to correlate their figures, and, should any irregularities be identified, to forward all proof to the police and prosecution.

“It’s well known that social welfare was not distributed adequately and that it was selective— sadly, even on party lines. For me it’s inconceivable that someone can be sending money, but that there’s no control instrument to see whether that money went to the right hands or was spent in the right manner,“ said Bogdanović.

Four years ago, then Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica created the Fund for Kosovo with the idea of raising money through donations from domestic and foreign businessmen.

Bogdanović said that the Funds’ chairman had been Bishop Artemije.

“As far as the Kosovo Fund’s concerned, we, as a ministry, have no insight. We’ve only just started working on it, to see where funds have been going since 2005,“ he said.

Bogdanović’s predecessor said that the state had not devoted as much attention to the fund as it should have, and that the money had been drawn from the budget.

Samardžić said that during his mandate, the Finance Ministry had never monitored the funds for Kosovo.