The Government reallocates 24 million euros of the Kosovo Budget

In the Government meeting of October 5^th, a total of 7,763,000 euros were reallocated based on decision 06/147. These funds were derived from the following budgetary categories:

• 2,450,000 € from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the co-financing with IPA 'Program”;
• 700,000 € from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Program 'Energy-KEK”, economic category – Subsidies and Transfers;
• 3,000,000 € from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Program 'Embassies”, economic category – Capital Expenses;
• 1,000,000 € from the Office of the President, the Project 'White House”, economic category – Capital Expenses;
• 612,000 € from the Ministry of Public Administration, economic category – Capital Expenses.

As it is clearly visible from these budget cuts, 3 million€ are taken from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, due to the fact that it did not manage to buy the embassies foreseen for this year. Likewise, 700 thousand € will not be provided to KEK for importing electrical energy and 1 million € are taken from the Office of the President due to the procrastination with the construction of the 'White House”, a project which has been discussed since the time of the late president Dr. Ibrahim Rugova.

These funds will be transferred to the following institutions:

• 300,000 € to the Municipality of Junik, economic category – Capital Expenses;
• 400,000 € to the Municipality of Fushe-Kosova, economic category – Capital Expenses;
• 700,000 € to the Municipality of Mitrovica, economic category – Capital Expenses;
• 700,000 € to the Municipality of Decan, economic category – Capital Expenses;
• 500,000 € to the Municipality of Podujeva, economic category – Capital Expenses;   
• 2,000,000 € to the Municipality of Gjilan, economic category – Capital Expenses;   
• 200,000 € to the Municipality of Prishtina, economic category – Capital Expenses;  
• 1,4000,000 € to the Municipality of Skenderaj, economic category – Capital Expenses;
• 70,000 € to the Municipality of Shtime, economic category – Capital Expenses;   
• 40,000 € to the Municipality of Peja, economic category – Capital Expenses; 
• 232,000 € to the Ministry of Local Governance Administration, economic category – Capital Expenses;
• 70,000 € to the Ministry of Health, program 'Regional Hospital in Mitrovica”, economic category – Goods and Services;
• 700,000 € to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, program 'Department of Production and Protection of Plants”, economic category – Subsidies and Transfers;
• 400,000 € to the Municipality of Vushtrria, economic category – Capital Expenses and;
• 50,000 € to the Office of the Prime Minister, economic category – Capital Expenses.

Another decision for reallocation of funds is the allocation of 5 million euros for the northern municipalities of Kosovo. These funds will be taken from: Ministry of Public Administration (3,723,700 €), TRA (562,500 €), Kosovo Customs (243,486 €), MEM (142,796 €), Energy Regulatory Office (247,700 €), MIA (72,547 €) and the Independent Commission on Mines and Minerals (7,271 €). These financial funds will be reallocated to the MEF budget – the Department of Treasury, in order to execute the decision of the Kosovo Government (Decision No. 02/142), by which decisions a total of 5,000,000 € were allocated for the northern municipalities of Kosovo.

Likewise, a decision was made for the allocation of budget funds in the amount of 435,000 euros for the Ministry of Local Governance Administration. These funds will be taken from the Ministry of the Kosovo Security Forces. These funds will be used for the implementation of the Decision No. 02/141 dated August 25^th 2010, according to which, a total of 5,000,000 euros are allocated for the implementation of capital projects in the Municipality of Mitrovica.

Additionally, the MEF request for the allocation of budget funds in the amount of 1,219,344 euros was approved. These funds will be taken from the budget category – Unpredictable Reserves, and will be provided to the following institutions: 520,047 € to the Ministry of Health in order to cover 30% of the regular salaries and 44 euros for the last two months of 2010; 500,000 € for the Municipality of Gjilan and 199,270 are provided to MEF – Kosovo Customs.

Furthermore, an additional 5,692,090 euros were allocated for CEC. Accounting for the 2 million euros allocated on the 147^th meeting and the 1.8 million euros allocated through the Budget 2010, the total budget funds allocated to CEC amount to over 10 million euros.

The 5.6 million euros allocated to CEC were taken from these institutions: 270,000 € from the Kosovo Assembly; 423,522 € from the Office of the President; 2,000,000 € for the Ministry of Economy and Finance; 900,000 € from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology; 1,150,000 € from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; 20,000 € from the Ministry of European Integration; 65,000 € from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority; 197,806 € from the Kosovo Privatization Agency; 40,000 € from the Public Procurement Reviewing Body; 44,562 € from the Kosovo Intelligence Agency; 21,200 € from the Election Complaints and Appeals Commission; 60,000 € from the Independent Commission on Mines and Minerals; and 500,000 € from the Kosovo Judicial Council.

The general amount of the reallocated budget funds for different budgetary bodies, including the allocations of funds from the previous month, reaches a total of 24,609,434 euros. The transferring and reduction of budget funds may be completed based on the Law on Public Financial Management and Accountability, respectively based on article 30 of this law which determines that the lowest amount or equivalent to 25% of the budget allocated for a specific department, must be approved by the Government. The transfer of funds in the amount below 15% is made by the respective minister, whereas for amounts over 25% the approval of the Kosovo Assembly is required. After the 148^th Government meeting was held, GAP Institute released a statement claiming that a Government in resignation should not be making executive decisions.