Five municipalities in Kosovo are currently facing the blocking of their bank accounts, seriously jeopardizing the regular functioning of local institutions and the provision of services to citizens.
In a statement to KosovaPress, the head of the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, Sazan Ibrahimi, emphasized that the issue lies with the central level, which is not consulting municipalities regarding “the funds it is taking from them.” He said the affected municipalities are Ferizaj, Lipjan, Drenas, Vushtrri, and Junik. Regarding this matter, the Ministry of Finance has not responded to KosovaPress’s questions as of the time this news was published.
Ibrahimi also highlighted that so far, over 210 million euros have been taken from the municipalities of Kosovo.
Ibrahimi also emphasized that the central level has a simple solution to this problem, but that this issue does not appear to be a concern for them.
As for the municipality of Lipjan, Deputy Mayor Diamant Bytyqi told KosovaPress that they have not received any information from the Ministry of Finance regarding the reasons for the account blockage.
Regarding the potential damages this block may cause, he stressed, “We don’t know which categories have been shut down or how extensive the damages are, but the damages will be significant if this continues.”
