Prishtina, 29 January 2009
The Prime Minister’s speech on the 2008 Annual Report on the Work of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo
Honorable President of the Assembly, Mr. Krasniqi,
Honorable members of the Assembly,
Honorable representatives of embassies and diplomatic missions in Kosovo,
Dear guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honor and the state responsibility to present today to you and the people of Kosovo the first report on the work of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo.
Thank you for understanding and accepting the request of the Government to present the report on its work to the Parliament, the Government also welcomes a debate on it.
Through this annual report, the Government of the Republic of Kosovo is presenting its work and achievements, which are accomplishments of the people of Kosovo on the path towards reaching our goals and objective to have a Kosovo – that is a state of all the citizens, a Kosovo – that is developed and in harmony with the democratic principles.
A Kosovo – with sustainable economic development, a Kosovo – that is a democratic state with the rule-of-law, a Kosovo – that has a multiethnic society, a Kosovo – committed to integration in European and Euro-Atlantic structures and other international mechanisms by accomplishing the highest requirements and standards of accountability and transparency.
The new democratic institutions formed by the governing coalition and other partners, deriving from parliamentary elections of November 2007, came as a result of the need to create a new positive climate of consensus and unity and of the need to have a modern and successful management of processes to ensure a better future, a certain European future.
The Government of Kosovo succeeded in managing the most important challenge in the history of the people of Kosovo, by successfully bringing to a close – the age-long ambitions for freedom and independence and by representing the will of the people with the declaration of Kosovo as an independent, sovereign and democratic state on February 17th 2008.
But, the credit for Kosovo’s Independence, belongs to all of the people of Kosovo, above any individual or party contribution.
We won the freedom together, we successfully passed through transition together, and we miraculously declared our independence together. And today, we have committing ourselves to moving ahead together in the process of economic development and integration in NATO and the European Union.
As a Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, I always express gratitude and acknowledgment for the sacrifice of every citizen to make the State of Kosovo.
Independence, as the only solution for the people of Kosovo, is in the interest of the peace and stability of the country and the region and has been achieved in close cooperation and coordination with the international community and with their unreserved support.
The people of Kosovo have shown extraordinary maturity, by celebrating in a very dignified way the accomplishment of their will for an independent state.
This proved to the world that Kosovo has responsible and mature institutions and citizens worthy of becoming members of the international community and of the civilized world.
The independence of Kosovo, this new and permanent reality, has been recognized so far by fifty four states that comprise over seventy percent of the annual world GDP, seven members of the G-8 and two thirds of the European Union member states.
Then we had the recognition of the passport of the Republic of Kosovo by Slovakia, Romania, Greece and other countries and the recognition issue is an active and dynamic process of the Kosovo diplomacy.
Recognition implies, amongst other things, the possibility to cooperate at the state level and the need to functionalize the local institutions.
The Government aims to achieve this by building up the capacities of its ministries and of the public administration through financing them and other action plans of the first budget of independent Kosovo.
On June 15th 2008, the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo entered into force, a modern constitution that incorporates the basic principles of the Ahtisaari Plan.
All the developing, political and social processes are based on the principles and the provisions of the Constitution, thus guaranteeing the territorial sovereignty and equality before the law of all the citizens.
The state symbols of Kosovo have been adopted and they represent the state and civic unity of our country.
Kosovo’s final will, goal and destination is European Union and NATO and permanent and excellent relations with the United States of America.
The objective of Kosovo to become part of the EU enjoys a wide public consensus and it requires a serious engagement of all the governing institutions as part of the formal pre-accession process and to achieve the status of a candidate country.
Thanks to successful work, the progress in Kosovo was also assessed by the European Commission Progress Report and the Government accepts with full responsibility the challenges pointed out in the report.
As a result of the work of the Government, the EU has confirmed the first step of Kosovo towards European Union, referred to as the feasibility study, which is expected to be concluded by autumn 2009.
The Government believes and is working to ensure a positive and acceptable assessment by Brussels.
As part of its commitment for EU integration, the Government will continue to consolidate the governing institutions to meet the democratic criteria, political criteria, economic criteria and European standards.
In line with the will of the people of Kosovo expressed through the free vote, the Government of the Republic of Kosovo carried out comprehensive reforms in all areas in 2008.
We found Kosovo in the dark, in muddy streets, students in makeshift conditions, an unprotected business community blackmailed and punished by the politics.
Kosovo was at the top list of the most corrupted countries in the region.
Mitrovica was left aside with a little or no state interest or responsibility dedicated to it.
Civic and political unity had to advance.
The Government of the Republic of Kosovo has been dealing with the requests and the needs of all the people of Kosovo and has put itself in their service by respecting accountable and transparent policies.
These policies led Kosovo towards a swift and sustainable economic growth, towards creation of new jobs, a safe and secure environment for all of the citizens.
The Government has committed itself to build trust amongst all the citizens.
It is only through mutual trust and honest and correct cooperation that we can achieve justice for all, more qualitative education and safer investments that will lead to a more rapid and more sustainable economic development.
These policies have reflected an improvement in the welfare of all the citizens.
An effort to make Kosovo a state where every citizen will feel comfortable, safe and proud to live.
Progress has been made in close cooperation with all the political and social stakeholders, including the civil society, the business community, academic institutions and the international partners.
A special thanks and acknowledgment for this success of ours goes to the media for presenting realistic and objective pictures of developments.
Intensification of economic development remains the top priority of the Government of Kosovo.
Economic growth will be achieved by intensifying investments, further privatization and the restructuring of public enterprises, improving of the competitive capabilities of the economy and increasing exports.
There was an annual economic growth of 6% in Kosovo, twice higher than the previous year, which is a very encouraging indicator.
The Government of Kosovo has applied policies that aim at economic growth, reducing unemployment rates, improving social conditions and alleviating poverty.
In order to be competitive with the countries in the region, the Government of Kosovo has been working on creating a suitable environment to attract foreign direct investment.
The Government of Kosovo has undertaken reforms to adjust policies so that Kosovo achieves the economic growth rates of the region.
These reforms will continue in the years to come in order to create conditions for sustainable economic growth.
Towards this end, the corporation taxes have been reduced from 20% to 10%.
Individual income tax for amounts over 450 euro has been reduced from 20 % to 10% and for 250 euro from 10% to 8% and so on.
The VAT has increased by 1 % from 15% to 16%.
The Government of Kosovo continues to be focused on the following fields: the rule of law, transportation, energy and mining, education, agriculture, tax and administration policies and the financial sector.
The first budget of the Republic of Kosovo for 2009 has been drafted in accordance with the highest standards, taking into account the needs of all the people of Kosovo.
This budget is for 15% higher than the budget of the previous year due to proper planning, savings and the cutting of expenditures in the Government, Presidency and the Assembly.
The budget takes into account our needs, now as an independent state, and helps Kosovo reach economic independence.
The Government has paid special attention to maintaining sustainable macro-economic and fiscal policies, a more effective implementing of capital and public expenditures and using of partnership initiatives between the public and the private sector.
The Government also aims to ensure a rational use of the privatization process with regards to strategic enterprises to avoid delays in economic development, caused by an unstable power supply – privatization of the supply and distribution departments and offers for the “Kosova e Re” (New Kosovo) – and the unused potential of the mineral capacities.
The experience from other countries, including neighboring countries, facing problems with the energy supply and insufficient distribution networks and low levels of income and bill collection shows that the inclusion of the private capital in distribution and operation functions improves the quality, to a great extent, of the service to the benefit of all the people.
We believe that the privatization of KEK Distribution will serve as a success story for the inclusion of the capital from the private sector in developing the energy sector, and that it will allow further private investments in the mining and generation units, including here the “Kosova e Re” power plant.
It will serve as a model to attract many international private companies to invest in Kosovo.
Kosovo Telecom and VALA represent attractive assets, capable to attract huge interest and considerable private capital and offer Kosovo an indispensable capital and expertise for the development of its infrastructure.
The Government of Kosovo believes that this privatization will represent a success not only for this process but it will also encourage and support major infrastructure projects.
The privatization of telephone services will facilitate Kosovo’s path towards economic prosperity and a higher level of technological development.
A transparent and competitive privatization will bring forth major benefits for all the people of Kosovo and will serve as a good example for future investments.
The Government of the Republic of Kosovo is determined to work on ensuring a sustainable energy sector in particular and a sustainable economy for Kosovo in general.
For this reason, having completed other important initiatives in the energy sector, the Government is now considering the possibility of developing the “Zhur Hydro Power Plant” project.
This project supplements the major project for building the “Kosova e Re” power plant that represents the most important initiative of the Government in the energy sector.
A considerable increase in energy generating capacities, the diversification of sources of energy production, improving of energy supply sustainability and stability of the electro-energetic system are strong arguments in favor of building this hydro power plant which represents almost 50% of Kosovo’s hydro potential.
In this respect we also have the Airport which is to be given in concession.
It remains a priority for the Government to implement the major program of building highway infrastructure along with the maintenance and repairing of existing roads.
The Government of the Republic of Kosovo will be fully committed to implementing this viable project for the economy and make it environmental friendly according to most advanced standards.
The rule of law is a priority of the Government and especially improving of the efficiency of the judicial system, fighting against negative phenomena, corruption, organized crime and the informal economy in general.
The establishment of good governance, the rule of law, transparency at work, the Government’s zero tolerance against corruption; have made Kosovo today to be low in the polls of the regional countries with regards to the level of corruption and organized crime.
We all are to be credited for this.
In the education sector, there has been a continuous and intensive improving of school infrastructure, of education curricula at all the levels, improving of teaching methods, the launch of the teacher certification process and enhancing of the use of Information Technology in schools.
In the agricultural sector, broadening of the irrigation system, consolidation process of farming land to increase productivity and effectiveness of the agricultural system continue to be the main priorities.
With regards to the constitutional obligations, a special attention has been paid to: decentralization, security, creation of new institutions and minority communities.
The implementation of the decentralization process continues to be on the Government’s agenda as an ambitious program with multifold benefits for the people of Kosovo.
The rights of communities and a sustainable return of the internally displaced persons are vital issues with regards to harmonizing of social structures in the independent Kosovo.
The Government of the Republic of Kosovo has established the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to intensify diplomatic relations.
The establishing of diplomatic relations with major international partners continues to be amongst the main activities of the Government.
The establishing of the Ministry of the Security Force and of the Kosovo Security Force are decisive steps in the modern history of the armed forces of the country and in achieving contemporary standards.
Accomplishing these standards will create a safe basis for the full integration of Kosovo in the Euro-Atlantic structures.
The Government continues to be committed to taking actions related to the establishment of the Constitutional Court, which will be fully functional and will guarantee constitutional order.
In the field of good governance, the Government of Kosovo has been focused on reforming public administration, managing of public finance, fighting corruption and improving of the execution of capital expenditure.
The initiation of the Functional Review of the civil service is a pragmatic request to lay the criteria and standards for the creation of a modern civil service that is capable of effectively responding to the challenges that Kosovo is facing.
Harmonization of the Government policies with the EU policies is a necessary process in line with the long-term goals of the Government but also of the people of Kosovo for European integration.
The Government of Kosovo pays special attention to improving the performance of the Government institutions dealing with the collection and expending of the public money.
The improving of the functions and the operations of the Tax Administration and Customs of Kosovo continues to be a challenge in consolidating the state of Kosovo.
Social welfare and healthcare services remain a concern for the Government of Kosovo.
Despite this, the measures taken by the Government have had a positive impact and led to the continuous improvement of pension and health services along with other social aspects.
The year 2008 was a year of successes for the institutions and the people of Kosovo. We pledge that the year 2009 will be the year of further successes for our country.
Last modified: July 31, 2022