Kosovo Special Prosecution charged two former trade ministers with abuse of office for creating an oil marking monopoly in the country, after Kallxo.com’s investigations revealed the acts three years ago.

Kosovo Special Prosecution filed an indictment against two former trade ministers, Vesel Krasniqi and Endrit Shala from the political party Social Democratic Initiative, NISMA on Friday, August 30. A Kallxo.com investigation from May 2021 previously revealed that Krasniqi had issued an administrative instruction that created a monopoly in oil marking.

Krasniqi told Kallxo.com on Friday afternoon that he had “not received any notification (from the prosecution).”

Shala told Kallxo.com that he had been informed about the charges by the media. “Neither me nor my lawyer were notified, all we know is what we read in the media.”

The prosecution file against Krasniqi, seen by Kallxo.com, estimates that the damage caused to the public interest amounts to more than 11 million euros. He is accused of deliberately and knowingly exceeding his powers by initiating and implementing legal procedures for the preparation of an administrative order on the Control and Quality of Liquid Petroleum Fuels without authorization on November 11, 2020.

“The order contains several articles that are detrimental to the public interest and beneficial to the private interest,” the prosecution claims.

On May 7, 2021, Kallxo.com reported that as minister of MTI, Krasniqi left behind a new monopoly. The cost of the oil would be paid by the oil companies, most of whom are Kosovo citizens and who will be forced to pay steep prices for the oil.

Minister Krasniqi authorized a Swiss company for marking and branding the oil. Oil marking would become mandatory, while it was expected to guarantee the authorized company about 6 million euros per year or 30 million within five years, depending on the amount of imported oil. The authorized company would be the only one to mark the oil in the next five years. The way for this monopoly was opened by administrative order 09/2020 for the control and quality of liquid petroleum fuels, for which Veseli is now indicted.

The successor, current minister Rozeta Hajdari, from current ruling party Vetevendosje, had announced that she repealed most of the articles of this administrative order, including the articles that provided that the assessment of conformity should be done by private businesses and not Kosovo Customs as it was earlier. Nonetheless, oil marking had not been repealed. In a decision published by Hajdari at that time, it appeared that the articles that talk about marking, namely oil marking, have not been repealed. Article 54 of this Administrative Instruction provided for the marking of fuels.

On March 15, 2021, Kallxo.com investigation revealed that Endrit Shala, Krasniqi’s predecessor, on May 30, 2019, contracted the company of his brother-in-law, Valdet Teneqa, to carry out the inspection for the quality of oil. According to the Prosecution, Endrit Shala helped his brother-in-law’s company, to benefit in the amount of over 732,000 euros.