The Agency for Prevention of Corruption (APC) has submitted criminal reports against at least four MPs for failure to declare their assets. These individuals served as MPs in the previous legislature and are currently members of the Assembly of Kosovo. They belong to different political parties. In addition to them, among the 48 criminal reports submitted by the APC to the respective prosecution offices, there are also ministerial advisors and officials from the Office of the Ombudsperson.
The Director of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption, Yll Buleshkaj, stated that these criminal reports relate to asset declarations submitted in 2024.
In an interview for KosovaPress, Buleshkaj said that around 70 more criminal reports are in the final stages of preparation and are expected to be submitted to the competent authorities.
“The Agency for Prevention of Corruption completed the verification process in June for one-third of public officials who were obliged to submit asset declarations by that time, related to the asset declarations that were submitted in 2024. As a result of this verification, 48 criminal reports have already been submitted, and around 70 are being finalized. Overall, it is expected that the total number will more than double compared to the previous year”, said Buleshkaj.
Buleshkaj did not want to reveal the names of MPs included in the APC’s criminal reports for non-declaration of assets, stating that doing so could harm potential investigations.
However, he confirmed that they come from different political parties.
“I’ve seen that there are some MPs, I remember that clearly. There are also ministerial advisors. From what I’ve seen so far, there are no ministers or deputy ministers involved. There are also individuals from public enterprises and independent institutions. Some officials from the Ombudsperson’s Office have also been referred for criminal prosecution. But I wouldn’t want to mention names, as this could interfere with ongoing investigations… Of the 48, if I’m not mistaken, there are at least four MPs… They come from different political parties who have been in the Kosovo Assembly and who are currently in the Kosovo Assembly”, said Buleshkaj.
Speaking to KosovaPress, Buleshkaj emphasized that the criminal reports submitted in June also include undeclared apartments, income, and unreported businesses.
“There are cases at both the local and central levels, in public enterprises and other independent institutions. We can’t say it’s limited to just one level of government, there’s a bit of everything. This list is not final, as we are still in the process of finalizing nearly twice as many criminal reports and other information for the prosecutor’s office is being prepared as the director’s office, and that have already been prepared by the professional units… We’ve identified undeclared apartments, income, and businesses that were not reported,” Buleshkaj said.
Additionally, Buleshkaj stated that 99 fines have been issued and delivered for failure to declare assets, of which 58 have already been collected.
He noted that the number of fines this year is higher than in previous years.
“To date, 99 fines have been issued for failure to declare assets. Of these, 58 have been collected, while the rest are in the process of collection. We’ve also received a large number of appeals, as each sanctioned individual has the right to file an appeal. We’re in the process of reviewing those… This year, we’ve seen the highest number of fines. Out of 108 actions taken against individuals who were late in declaring assets, 9 were warnings — some public, some not — depending on the violation… The remaining 99 were fines, amounting to 30% of the public official’s monthly salary,” Buleshkaj explained.
In the end, Buleshkaj announced that there has been a significant increase in whistleblowing. He stated that by June 2025, the number of whistleblower cases reported to the Agency had already surpassed the total number from the previous year.
In 2023, 20 cases were recorded; in 2024, that number rose to 48; and in 2025, during the first six months alone, over 50 cases were reported.
Whistleblowing is the act by which a person (the whistleblower) alerts authorities to violations of law or unethical and unlawful actions occurring within a public or private institution.
Whistleblowers are often employees of the institution who report corruption, abuse of office, conflicts of interest, or other violations that harm the public interest. /Z. Zeneli/
