Indictment against the official of the Ministry of Environment, suspected of damaging the state by over 15.7 million euros

The Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo has charged an official of the Ministry of Environment, Naser Hafizi, with three criminal offenses. In separate proceedings, an indictment has also been filed against a person with the initials I.B. for unauthorized possession of weapons.

Hafizi is charged with the criminal offenses “Misuse of official position or authority,” “Money laundering,” and “Failure to report or false reporting of assets, income, gifts, other material benefit, or financial obligations.”

The prosecution alleges that during 2021–2023, while serving as an official of the Ministry of Environment, N.H. acted beyond the competencies defined by law and failed to fulfill his official responsibilities.

According to the indictment, these actions are suspected of having created opportunities for illegal financial gain for economic operators, including water bottlers. As a result, the state budget is alleged to have been damaged in the amount of 15,752,486.07 euros.

“The defendant is accused of not sending all economic operators for evaluation by the Ministerial Working Group. After receiving the report from this group, N.H. selected the operators into three groups in order to favor them, enabling financial obligations to be determined based on their unverified reports,” the Special Prosecution’s announcement said.

The indictment also charges Hafizi with failing to take the Working Group’s assessments as a basis when determining economic operators’ debts. He is suspected of lowering their financial obligations related to water use.

Meanwhile, an indictment has been filed against I.B. for the criminal offense “Unauthorized ownership, control, or possession of weapons.”

The Special Prosecution has not disclosed other details about the case involving I.B.