Prishtinë, 25 April 2012
At least 25 high public officials, among them ministers, deputy ministers, municipal mayors, procurement directors and directors and members of the boards of public companies have not declared a part of their wealth at the Agency Against Corruption (AKK). Furthermore, this fact does not figure at all even in the Annual Report of AKK.
The finding of these undeclared businesses has been made possible through comparing the form on the declaration of wealth at AKK, which high officials have filled in (received by officials at AKK) and the database of ARBK, where the businesses of these high public officials have been detected according to the personal identification number. The businesses found at ARBK where these officials figure as owners or authorized persons do not figure in the form for the declaration of wealth, which means that these businesses have not been declared at all.
Preportr has also found from sources in the Kosovo Tax Administration (ATK) that from 25 businesses that the high public officials did not declare as part of their wealth, 5 of them have had financial turnover throughout the years, whereas 20 of them, at least officially, did not have financial turnover reported at ATK.
Nevertheless, through this act, these high public officials have violated the Law on the Declaration of Wealth by committing an offense. The Law on Declaration of Wealth, approved in 2010 article 4 – point 3 says that: “The declaration regarding the state of wealth of high public officials and their families includes information regarding their wealth and their income, such as: possession of shares in commercial enterprises”. This obligation is also determined even more clearly through the Law on Declaration of Wealth which was empowered in 2011. In Header IV – article 12 of this law, among others, it is said that “the public person should declare also the functions or other activities that the official exercises alongside the public function”. This answer was also provided by the director of AKK, Hasan Preteni. When asked whether the high public officials should also declare the businesses, regardless whether they have financial turnover where officials could be owners or authorized persons, he said that “High public officials, in compliance with article 12 of the Law No. 04/L-050 are obliged to declare in the form for the declaration of wealth all the functions or other activities that the officials exercise alongside the high public function.
This legal obligation applies for all public officials until the point when they unregister the businesses or terminate their function in the respective businesses, and this should be done in the Agency for the Registration of Businesses (ARBK). The representatives of ARBK say that a business should be terminated when on such is deleted from the Regiter of Businesses and when it fulfills the tax obligations.
One for me, one for you...
The Agency Against Corruption has a much deeper conflict with its own role. It should control the officials from which its own director continuously requires a raise of salaries. It seems that this is the chief reason why AKK does not sanction the violators of the law, but protects them. Somehow this appears like one hand scratching the other, or the axiom one for me, one for you.
The businesses found at ARBK, where these officials are owners or authorized persons do not figure in the form for the declaration of wealth, which means that these businesses have not been declared at all. The AKK director, Hasan Preteni, during the presentation of the annual Report for 2011 did not mention at all the above-mentioned officials, and has furthermore stated that “there are no high government officials for which investigation procedures have been initiated due to non-declaration of wealth”.
When businesses which had not been declared within the legal deadline were found in the past, AKK did not send them to the Minor Offense Court, but it contacted the officials who did not declare their businesses, and enabled them to declare them, through filling in these businesses or functions in the register for the declaration of wealth even beyond the determined legal deadline.
Officials of AKK, unofficially have stated that if the declaration of wealth is not done in full, there can be no sanctions, since according to them, “The Law on the Declaration of Wealth does not determine such s thing, and that the law in question creates space in this aspect and does not sanction partial declaration”. This fact is confirmed even in the AKK work report for 2011, since 10 Deputies of the Kosovo Assembly who have not declared their businesses, and after Çohu and Preportr sent those to AKK, the latter only added those businesses which had not been declared in the declaration form. So, they were obliged to declare them, but had hidden them, and AKK, considering this as declaration as per request, did not proceed them to the Minor Offense Court, excluding one case which did not respond to the letter of AKK for providing additional information. This means that one high public official can hide his/her businesses and can make such declarations only if his/her businesses are discovered, and for such non-declaration, according to AKK, ni sanctions can be undertaken against him/her.
I knew, I knew not...
Preportr has contacted with all above-mentioned officials (except for Ilir Tolaj who is currently in detention), and asked them regarding the non-declaration of their respective companies. A large part of them say that these businesses are not active and they though that they should not declare them, since they claim that they do not have any financial turnover. But the Law on Declaration of Wealth obliges these officials to declare every business activity, regardless of the fact whether these businesses are profitable or not, or whether their turnover balance is zero, or even negative. This obligation is practically linked with the fact that even if the businesses of these officials presently do not have financial turnover, tomorrow they could commence with activities since they are registered in ARBK, in other words, they are active.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Behgjet Pacolli, did not declare the company called “Tempore”, in which he is the owner, while Rrustem Pacolli is the authorized person. Pacolli said that he did not declare this company in 2011 since, according to him, it does not have any business activity. “The company ‘Tempore’ is passive, it is undergoing the procedures of termination and is under the management of Rrustem Pacolli. AKK is informed about everything”, Pacolli has said. But the data of the Kosovo Tax Administration show that Pacolli’s Company has had turnover and its value is not zero. “Tempore” Company, in which Pacolli is the owner, in 2002 had 9 thousand and 290 euros of financial turnover, in 2003 had 10 thousand and 612 euros turnover, and in 2004 had 133 thousand and 450 euros of turnover.
The Minister for Communities and Return, Radoica Tomiç did not declare his company “STR Fan” at all in the Agency Against Corruption (AKK). Minister Tomiç through the information office has said that this company for more than 8 years is passive, while he has declared that he will terminate this business in ARBK. “...there is no income in the account of this company, which can also be verified. This company is registered under the name of minister Tomiç, while it is managed by his sister. In the coming days, procedures will be initiated for obtaining the necessary documents from the Ministry of Trade and Industry for the non-functioning of the company in question”, says the answer that the minister has provided through the information office.
The Minister of the Security Force, Agim Çeku did not declare in AKK the company "ATM Group” Sh.p.k., in which he is co-owner with Tomislav Kaçiç –Alesiç and Mark Shalaj. Minister Çeku says that he did not declare this company, since according to him, this company never functioned and never had financial turnover. He says that, taking this in view, he thought that the company had itself been terminated and is not registered in ARBK. “It was simply and attempt and an idea by a Croatian friend of mine back when I was not employed. After you have contacted me, and I thank you for reminding me, I have immediately taken measures to get out of there”, said Çeku.
The Deputy Minister in the Ministry of the Public Administration, Nexhmedin Kastrati, did not declare his company "Qendra e Marketingut". Cyneyd Usaibo, deputy minister in the Ministry of Trade and Industry did not declare in AKK the company "A.G.O.-AL." – Branch in Kosovo, where he is the authorized person. Hajdin Abazi, deputy minister in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports did not declare the company "Conn - Con", where he is co-owner with Ismet Bajrami. All three of these deputy ministers attempt to give the same justifications, saying that their businesses do not conduct any business activity. They say that they thought they should not declare them since they do not have any financial turnover.
Whereas, Rifat Krasniç, deputy minister in the Ministry of Administration and Local Government did not declare the company “Mutlu”. Krasniç has been fined on 31.12.2011 by the municipal court for minor offense in Prishtina because he had not declared his wealth at all in AKK. He declared his wealth on 01.11.2011, but he did not declare “Mutlu” at all. He says that he had forgotten to declare this business. “I have this company functional for 20 years. I have received the official duty on 27 March of 2011 and I could not declare the wealth and the court has fined me with 200 euros. Whereas after I have declared my wealth, I had forgotten to declare it”, says Krasniç. Krasniç in this company has had turnover for many years and still continued to have. His company in 2000 had 1 thousand 273 euros turnover, in 2001 it had 4 thousand euros, in 2006 it had 12 thousand and 484 euros, in 2007 it had 20 thousand 828 euros, in 2008 it had 18 thousand and 666 euros, in 2009 it had 33 thousand and 982 euros, in 2010 it had 26 thousand and 920 euros and in 2011 it had 15 thousand and 541 euros of financial turnover.
Ilir Tola, ex-permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health did not declare his company “I M C”, where he is co-owner with Gazmend Pruthi. He currently is arrested under the suspicion for involvement in corruption.
Also some municipal mayors did not declare their businesses in AKK. The mayor of Suhareka, Blerim Kuçi did not declare his company “Universal Group”, which he co-owns with Blerim Grainca. The mayor of Partesh Nenad Svetkoviç did not declare his companies "Mlp - Com" and “M & L – Com”. (Svetkovic in 2007 in the first company had a financial turnover of 3 thousand and 125 euros).
The mayor of Lipjan, Shukri Buja did not declare his business D.p.h “Bulevardi”. Also the mayor of Gjilan, Qemajl Mustafa did not declare his company "Vision Oil " Sh.p.k. where he is co-owner with Selatin Mehmeti, Begator Hila and Alban Shehri. The mayor of Mitrovica, Avni Kastrati did not declare his three companies in AKK: “Oil Trade”, “Eko-Kosva” , which he owns and the company "Amar", which is in the property of his son, while he is the authorized person. (Kastrati in the company “Oli Trade” has had financial turnover for many years. In 2000 it had 33 thousand and 371 euros of turnover, in 2001 it had 1 million 261 thousand and 300 euros, in 2002 it had 321 thousand and 360 euros of financial turnover).
The reasons for not declaring these companies by the mayors do not stand. They say that they are not operating with these businesses, they say they do not have financial turnover and they did not know that they are still registered in ARBK, since they thought that if the businesses do not have financial turnover they terminate themselves!
Also some procurement directors did not declare their businesses in AKK, which are in their name registered in ARBK, as are all the businesses of these 25 officials.
Afrim Maxhuni, director of procurement in the Ministry of the Security Force did not declare his company "AA - HD", which is his property. Feti Ibishi, director of procurement in the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare did not declare his agricultural business “Malësia” where he is co-owner. Also Adem Krasniqi, director of procurement in the Ministry of Trade and Industry did not declare his trade company “Rrjeta”. While Arben Loshi, director of procurement in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not declare his company "Beni - Keramikë", which is his property. Also these officials attempt to give the same justifications, saying that they did not have business activities during the last years and that they thought they should not declare these businesses in AKK.
Also some directors and members of boards of public companies did not declare their businesses in AKK. Gani Syla, director of the board in the Post and Telecom of Kosovo did not declare his company "Dreni", where he is co-owner. Also Nuhi Ahmeti, director of the board in the Post and Telecom of Kosovo did not declare his company "Natyra”. While, Fadil Ismajli, director in KOSST did not declare his company “Arting”, where he is co-owner with Mehmet Ahmetaj and Misin Voci. Flamur Keqa, member of the Board in KEK did not declare his company “IBF consulting training”. These officials say that their businesses are passive and did not know that they should be declared, although the Law on the Declaration of Wealth obliges them that, regardless of the business activity, the businesses that are registered in their names should be declared.
Asllan Vitaku, head of the board in the Company for the Management of Landfills in Kosovo did not declare his company "Asllan & Sons", where he is owner. He says that he did not declare this company, with the reason that he did not know it should be declared.
“In this company, my son is manager and I don’t know why it was not declared. This does not have much business, we do little business...”, said Vitaku. Through this company, he has had financial turnover throughout the years and it still continues to. Vitaku’s company "Asllan & Sons", in 2005 had 1 thousand and 757 euros turnover, in 2006 it had 4 thousand and 142 euros, in 2007 it had 5 thousand and 393 euros turnover, in 2008 it had 16 thousand and 365, in 2009 it had 13 thousand and 650 euros, in 2010 it had 16 thousand and 610 euros and in 2011 it had 3 thousand and 455 euros financial turnover.
Also Hanefi Muharremi, member of the board in ANP did not declare his business “Zyra e Shërbimeve Eksperti Muharremi”. He does not give any specific reason why he did not declare this business. “I have this business since 2007 and I don’t know what is the matter. It should be active, some cases we do in the courts. But I will check what is the matter”, said Muharremi.
Aleksandër Janjiçeviç, member of the board in RTK did not declare in AKK his company P.P. "Inter - Comerce", which he owns. Also Rrahman Paçarizi, ex-head of the board of RTK did not declare his business Institute for Quality "ARAC ". These officials say that these companies are non-profitable and they did not know they should be declared even if they are non-profitable.
Active or passive?
The businesses registered in ARBK are active and have this status until the owners undertake the proper procedures for terminating the businesses. This is confirmed also by the chief executive of ARBK, Gazmend Mejzini. “A business is considered active as long as it figures as registered in the database of ARBK. If the business decides to be terminated then the procedures for termination should be respected, depending on the type of the business. In the website of ARBK you can find the procedures and documents necessary for the termination of businesses”, says Mejzini.
Practically every business registered in ARBK can start to have financial turnover at any moment or even compete in different tenders to win projects. Furthermore, these companies, even if they are fictional, they can bid in different tenders in order to influence “the game” with bids. This is one of the reasons why the Law on Declaration of Wealth obliges the high officials to declare their businesses or their functions they have in the businesses in order to prevent possible conflicts of interest.
The documents which are necessary for terminating an individual business or general partnership are: Completion of the form, copy of owner’s ID (owners), original business certificate, certificate by the Kosovo Tax Administration for terminating the business. Whereas, the documents necessary to terminate corporations are: Completion of the specific form, publication of liquidation in a daily newspaper in tree Languages ½ of the page, certificate by the Kosovo Tax Administration for the termination of the business, copies of ID of owner or copies of passports, if the owner is a foreigner, the decision on Liquidation of the Corporation, the decision for the naming of the Liquidator, report on the assets of the capital.
So, only through following these procedures can businesses be terminated, and until a business is terminated in ARBK, it should be declared, regardless whether it is profitable or not.