State reserves case in Kosovo/ Trial begins between the accused and the acting Minister of Industry

2026-01-13 10:15:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

State reserves case in Kosovo/ Trial begins between the accused and the acting

The initial hearing on the state reserves case is being held at the Basic Court in Pristina today, where the acting Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade (MINT), Rozeta Hajdari, is also the defendant.

The indictment against Hajdari was filed on November 11 of last year by the Kosovo Special Prosecution Office, which accuses him of misusing state reserves.

According to the indictment, Hajdari and two MINT officials caused damage of around 3 million euros to the Kosovo budget during February and March 2022, when they allegedly purchased a quantity of oil and wheat abroad, but which never arrived in Kosovo.

Previous initial session failure

An initial hearing was also scheduled for December 10th of last year, but it failed because Hajdari and the lawyer for the other defendant, Irfan Lipovica, were not present.

The presiding judge, Avni Syla, said that Hajdari had been sent an invitation to participate by mail, but had not received a response as to whether she had accepted the invitation properly.

Afterwards, Hajdari wrote on Facebook that "I have not received any summons for a hearing from the Court."

"The moment I receive the summons from the Court, for the next session, I will appear in court," she added.

Indictment for state reserves

Hajdari, according to the indictment filed on November 11 of last year, is accused of misusing state reserves.

Hajdari and two officials, Irfan Lipovica and Hafiz Gara, are suspected, according to the Prosecution, of having complicitly abused their official duties in order to gain wealth for other persons and have caused damage to the Kosovo budget during the months of February and March 2022.

The indictment alleges that the state budget suffered damage of approximately 3 million euros as a result of the defendants' actions.

They are suspected of having purchased a quantity of oil and a quantity of wheat abroad at that time, which never reached Kosovo.

All three are accused of committing the criminal offenses of abuse of official position or authority, and disclosure of official secrets.

While the fourth defendant, Ridvan Muharremi, is suspected of aiding and abetting the commission of the criminal offense of abuse of official position or authority.

Hajdari, Lipovica and Gara are also accused of revealing official secrets without authorization.

Acting Minister Rozeta Hajdari has described the indictment filed against her and three others in the state reserves case as a "political tendency" against the Government of acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

State reserves

In 2023, three people were arrested in the state reserves case, including Gara, director of the state reserves department, and Lipovica, director of the department for European integration.

The Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade was raided in 2023 after the publication of audio recordings by the Nacionale portal, which claimed that a quantity of oil, purchased in Poland, and a quantity of wheat, purchased in Turkey, had never arrived.

At the time, Hajdari stated that the purchases for state reserves were made in accordance with the law, but did not provide further details, as the information about them is a state secret.

Later, she accused the police of seizing documents classified as state secrets as evidence during the raids.

The acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, has also been called as a witness in this case, but so far he has refused to go to the Special Prosecution Office, insisting on giving his testimony at the Prime Minister's Office.

Regarding the case of state reserves, Kurti has come to Hajdari's defense, saying that "there is no corruption or misuse." /REL