Politics Still Sways Public Sector Hiring in Kosovo

With a fourth government in two years taking power in March, Kosovo's publicly-owned enterprises face a new round of firing and hiring.

The most senior positions in state-run firms are traditionally filled with political appointees, who invariably depart when a new government enters office.

Amid widespread concern over the effect on the way such companies are run, the UK foreign office was enlisted in 2017 to aid in the hiring of senior staff with the aim of installing qualified professionals rather than party apparatchiks.

But BIRN has uncovered violations in the hiring of senior directors to at least two public enterprises - Kosovo's postal service and the railway infrastructure firm INFRAKOS - as the previous government pressed ahead with a wave of recruitment even after being declared illegitimate by the country's Constitutional Court.

On March 5, barely two weeks before the new government of Albin Kurti took office, Xhevdet Smakiqi, who ran for parliament in 2019 on behalf of the Social Democratic Initiative, NISMA, was appointed Chief Executive Officer at the Post of Kosovo, despite a law barring anyone involved in politics in the previous 36 months from holding a senior public enterprise position. NISMA was in government with the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK.

Three days later, Hysen Nikqi was appointed CEO of INFRAKOS, Kosovo's state-owned railway network operator, in violation of legal procedures, according to a review by a body within the Economic Ministry.

British embassy concern

Kosovo current PM Albin Kurti (center L) in a meeting with Britain's ambassador to Kosovo, Nicholas Abbott (up R), before Kurti takes office, February 26, 2021. Photo: Official Facebook Account of...

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