The Municipality of Strpce: The Privatization Agency is leasing out properties in the municipality's territory without our consent

Opština Štrpce
Source: Facebook

The Kosovo Privatization Agency has made the decision to issue a public call for leasing several properties in the territory of Strpce without the municipality's consent, the local government announced today.

The Agency has decided to issue a call for leasing, among others, the properties of the "City Café" in Strpce and the "Breza" hotel in Brezovica, as well as the "Partizanka" and "Express Restaurant" located in the "Molika" hotel in the ski resort.

"This decision by the Agency was made without the consent of the local government and is against the interests of the citizens of Strpce," the municipality stated.

It was noted that this decision follows the dismissal of the director of the Kosovo Privatization Agency, who had previously been formally informed in writing of the local government’s position in Strpce.

Namely, Jevtic sent a letter on July 23 this year, informing the General Director of the Agency that the Municipality opposes the process of privatization or leasing of several properties within the "Inex" company. He referred to a provision of the Law on Local Self-Government, which grants the mayor and the Municipality the right to expropriate immovable property of public interest.

"This procedure was initiated by the Municipality on two occasions, first by a decision of the Assembly on April 26, 2013, which the Government of Kosovo approved on August 28, 2018. That decision was not implemented, so a renewed request for expropriation was submitted on December 29, 2021, immediately after the current mayor Dalibor Jevtic took office," the Municipality of Strpce's statement reads.

It was emphasized that, based on these facts alone, the Kosovo Privatization Agency violated legal norms by issuing a public call to lease the "City Café" located in the center of Strpce. Regarding the "Molika" hotel, the Agency did not formally fulfill any procedural obligation to inform the Municipality about it.

For this reason, the people of Strpce see this as yet another form of political and institutional violence carried out by the regime in Pristina against the interests of the citizens of this municipality.

"Since the beginning of his term, the Mayor of Strpce has been fighting against all pressures from Pristina to prevent any ethno-nationalistic actions by Albin Kurti’s regime. If the international community does not take steps to stop Kurti from usurping the lives of the citizens of Strpce, the Municipality and its citizens will peacefully and democratically resist the implementation of this political decision," the statement added.

They called on the Kosovo Privatization Agency to cancel the mentioned public call and the members of the "Brezovica Ski Center" board to publicly state whether they had given their consent for the "twisted decision" being implemented by the Agency, as without their consent, such a decision, they emphasized, carries an additional connotation of being illegitimate and illegal.

In response to this decision by the Agency, Mayor Dalibor Jevtic has initiated the procedure to hold an extraordinary session of the Strpce Municipal Assembly.

The Municipality of Strpce will continue to inform the public of all further steps and developments on this matter.