Kosovo ministry official on bonus cuts

Kosovo Ministry State Secretary Oliver Ivanovic said the Constitutional Court's decision to abolish the so-called Kosovo bonus must be respected. He also stressed that Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija work and live under difficult conditions compared to citizens in central Serbia. Kosovo ministry official on bonus cuts Invanovic said that this will be a good chance to regulate income of those in the province who receive their salaries from the budget. While doing so, he stated, the fact that those employees work and live under aggravated conditions in Kosovo will be taken into account. Asked whether this meant that their bonuses would not be paid as of next month, Ivanovic said that he believed this will not be the case, and that there will be a transitional period. In that period, the ministry's official said, a harmonization will be conducted of salaries paid from the budget, and a new solution found. The Constitutional Court ruled that the Kosovo bonus, introduced in 2003, was unconstitutional, as it represented a form of positive discrimination. Some 45,000 people received the bonuses along with their regular salaries in Kosovo and Metohija, with RSD 26bn set aside from the budget for this purpose. The current government set to reexamine the decision when it took over, and in 2008 it halved the bonus. Oliver Ivanovic (Tanjug, file)

Kosovo ministry official on bonus cuts

Invanović said that this will be a good chance to regulate income of those in the province who receive their salaries from the budget. While doing so, he stated, the fact that those employees work and live under aggravated conditions in Kosovo will be taken into account.

Asked whether this meant that their bonuses would not be paid as of next month, Ivanović said that he believed this will not be the case, and that there will be a transitional period.

In that period, the ministry's official said, a harmonization will be conducted of salaries paid from the budget, and a new solution found.

The Constitutional Court ruled that the Kosovo bonus, introduced in 2003, was unconstitutional, as it represented a form of positive discrimination.

Some 45,000 people received the bonuses along with their regular salaries in Kosovo and Metohija, with RSD 26bn set aside from the budget for this purpose.

The current government set to reexamine the decision when it took over, and in 2008 it halved the bonus.