Audit reveals significant irregularities in the management of public finances

The National Audit Office today published the results so far of the audits for the 2025/2026 season, which identified a series of violations in public institutions affecting procurement, the budget, property administration and subsidies.

At a press conference, Auditor General Vlora Spanca and Deputy Auditor General Bezad Halilaj presented the main findings, emphasizing that the audits continue to highlight repeated weaknesses in the management of public finances.

According to Spanca, 145 audits are planned for the 2025/2026 season, and 102 of them have already been published. She said that by June 30, 88 mandatory regularity audits and 12 audits of public enterprises are expected to be completed, while the other Compliance, Performance, classified audits and World Bank project audits are expected to be concluded according to plan during the year. She also said that the Annual Audit Report for the Kosovo Budget is expected to be submitted to the Assembly of Kosovo no later than August 31, 2026.

She announced that from 94 financial and compliance audit reports, 55 qualified opinions, 4 adverse opinions and 35 unmodified opinions have been issued.

In public enterprises, according to Spanca, 4 adverse opinions and 5 qualified opinions have been identified.

According to the NAO, among the most pronounced problems are inaccuracies in financial reporting, violations of procurement procedures, as well as deficiencies in the management of contracts and public spending.

The report presented today identifies systematic violations at both the central and local levels. These include entering into obligations without budget coverage, contracting projects without secured funds, delays in implementing capital investments and failure to comply with public procurement procedures.

Late payments, staff engagements outside legal procedures and insufficient use of the e-procurement system were also found.

A notable part of the report relates to the Municipality of Prishtina, for which the NAO issued a qualified opinion on the financial statements and an adverse conclusion on compliance.

According to the report, 52 cases of incorrect classification of expenditures were identified there, worth more than 7.7 million euros, an overstatement of contingent liabilities of more than 27 million euros, as well as inaccuracies in receivables and financial liabilities.

The NAO also expressed concern over a project with UNDP, where 5.2 million euros were transferred as a prepayment, while according to the report, full institutional monitoring and transparency over its implementation are lacking.

The same report also highlights numerous violations in procurement procedures, including errors during the evaluation of bids, failure to include positions in contracts and deviations in the final values of projects.

Cases were also found of contracts being signed without budget coverage, as well as the start of works without the necessary construction permits in major infrastructure projects.

Spanca further stated that during 2025, payments through court decisions exceeded 45 million euros. She added that payment delays of up to 131 days were also recorded, as well as a lack of documentation for the accurate allocation of interest and enforcement expenses.

In some cases, she said, subsidies were allocated without open competitive procedures, including the financing of non-governmental organizations, which according to Spanca constitutes a violation of the rules of transparency and equality in public financing.

As part of the performance audits, Deputy Auditor General Bezad Halilaj said serious deficiencies were found in several public institutions.

For “Termokos,” the report mentions unequal heat distribution, a weak billing system and a lack of backup capacity.

At the Agency for Comparison and Verification of Property, problems were noted with the electronic system, a lack of complete data and irregular inspections.

Meanwhile, at the University of Prishtina, the SEMS system was assessed as having shortcomings in IT governance, data security and dependence on external operators.

Finally, the NAO called on public institutions to treat audit recommendations seriously, emphasizing that their aim is to improve governance and increase accountability in the management of public money.