Analyst Agim Rexhepi has reacted to Pristina Mayor Përparim Rama after the latter called for a protest against Albin Kurti.

In a Facebook post, Rexhepi said that Rama had crossed the line separating institutional duty from political activity. According to him, municipal leaders were elected to provide services to citizens, not to take on the role of organizers of political protests.

“Përparim – Municipalities need work, not orchestrated political protests,” Rexhepi wrote.

He titled his public reaction: “When mayors become organizers of political protests.”

Rexhepi said that Përparim Rama’s invitation, made on behalf of the mayors to protest against Albin Kurti, constituted a clear overstepping of the boundary separating institutional responsibility from the political agenda. He stressed that mayors had received their mandates to serve citizens, not to become leaders of political confrontations against a government or prime minister.

According to him, if the mayors have objections to the incumbent prime minister, Albin Kurti, they should present them as political individuals and on behalf of their respective political entities. Rexhepi described the use of institutional authority and the name of all the mayors for a political action as unacceptable, saying that this showed that some still had not understood that local government did not belong to political parties.

In conclusion, he repeated the message: “Përparim – Municipalities need work, not orchestrated political protests.”

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Acting Finance Minister Hekuran Murati has announced that the budget allocated to Kosovo’s municipalities is expected to reach €907 million in 2027.

He said the Ministry of Finance issued the second budget circular for municipalities last week, setting the budget ceilings for each of them.

Murati said the steady increase in budget revenues in recent years has expanded fiscal space, allowing for a continued rise in funding allocated to municipalities.

“The exceptional performance of budget revenues in recent years has created the necessary fiscal space for the budget allocated to municipalities to increase continuously,” he said.

The data presented show that funding for municipalities is projected to increase from €546 million in 2021 to €907 million in 2027.

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On September 3, municipal mayors are expected to gather for a protest outside the Government building to express their dissatisfaction over the issues facing municipalities.

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo MP Albana Bytyqi confirmed the protest would be held on that date in a statement to Indeksonline.

Bytyqi explained that each mayor would present the concerns and grievances of the municipality they lead, calling on the central institutions to resolve their problems.

According to the MP, the protest actions will not be limited to September 3. She warned that they would continue after that date if the municipalities’ demands remain unanswered.

“Each mayor will work to voice their concerns. After September 3, we too will continue with protests,” Bytyqi said.

The protest is intended to put pressure on the Government to address the municipalities’ demands and concerns.

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Albanian municipalities have historically faced major problems in using public funds, particularly for investments. However, over the past two months, the volume of tenders and procurement procedures has increased significantly ahead of the territorial reform, which is expected to bring another reorganization, and the local elections to be held next year.

Data from the Ministry of Finance show that, in the first half of 2026, local government spending reached 42.2 billion lek, or 15.3% more than in the same period last year.

In June alone, 8.7 billion lek was spent, an amount 20% higher than the actual level recorded last year and 4% above the monthly target.

According to an analysis conducted by the Open Procurement Albania platform, the country’s municipalities announced a total of 1,877 tenders between January and June 2026, with a combined ceiling fund of 24.95 billion lek.

Compared with the same period in 2025, the figures reveal an interesting paradox: while the number of procedures fell slightly, with 35 fewer tenders than the 1,912 procedures recorded in 2025, the total ceiling fund increased by 11.03 billion lek, or 79.2%. In the first half of last year, the ceiling fund made available by local government units was 13.92 billion lek.

However, despite the wave of procurement procedures, investment progress has not been as rapid. Data from the Ministry of Finance show that municipalities carried out around 7.92 billion lek in investments between January and June 2026, from an operational budget of 54.86 billion lek. This translates into an implementation rate of just 14.4%, significantly below the theoretical rate of 50% corresponding to the halfway point of the year.

The greatest concentration of both planned funds and completed investments is in municipalities such as Tirana, Himara, Durrës and Vlora, which together account for around 63.5% of the investment budgets of all municipalities. However, their large share of the budget has not always been accompanied by a high implementation rate.

Tirana carried out around 1.98 billion lek in investments, or one-quarter of the national total. However, against a budget of 17.82 billion lek, its implementation rate was only 11.1%. Kamza ranked second, with 1.14 billion lek in investments. Unlike Tirana, Kamza used around 66% of its 1.73 billion lek budget, recording one of the highest implementation rates.

Himara ranked third, with 703 million lek in investments, but implemented only 8.9% of its 7.89 billion lek budget. Durrës, with a budget of 4.85 billion lek, carried out 308 million lek in investments, or 6.3%.

Lezhë recorded the highest implementation rate among municipalities with investment budgets of more than 10 million lek. By the end of June, it had used 75.7% of its planned funds.

It was followed by Kamza, with 66%, Bulqizë, with 61.3%, Vorë, with 53.2%, and Këlcyrë, with 50.3%. Malësi e Madhe, Fushë-Arrëz, Poliçan and Kukës also recorded relatively high rates.

At the other end of the spectrum, Pukë implemented only 127 thousand lek out of a planned 55 million lek, or 0.2%. Mirditë used 1.7% of its budget, Vlora 4.2%, Korça 5.9% and Durrës 6.3%.

Libohovë reported no completed investments, although its budget under this category was only 370 thousand lek.

Of the 4,586 municipal projects budgeted for this year, 3,634, or around 79.2%, had no recorded expenditure by the end of June.

Projects with zero implementation have a value of around 39.6 billion lek, or 72.2% of the entire investment budget. This shows that the low implementation rate stems not only from the slow progress of active projects, but also from the very large number of projects on which no funds have yet been spent.

The road network is the main area of local investment. Municipalities spent around 3.56 billion lek on this sector, or 45% of total investments.

The budget for roads was around 16.99 billion lek, while the implementation rate reached 21%. Although it remains low, it is higher than the overall average of 14.4%.

Roads were followed by local public services, with 790 million lek in investments, basic education, with 663 million lek, and administration and planning, with 537 million lek. Together, these four areas account for around 70% of completed investments./Monitor

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The stock of overdue arrears continued to grow during the second quarter of 2026, after a significant decrease recorded at the end of last year. By the end of June, debts reached around 7.83 billion lek, or nearly 2 billion lek more than in December 2025.

Data show that at the end of March, municipalities and ministries had 6.93 billion lek in arrears, while at the end of 2025 the figure was 5.83 billion lek.

The central government accounted for most of the increase in unpaid bills to businesses and creditors. Its arrears rose from 1.86 billion lek to 3.31 billion lek, marking an increase of nearly 1.45 billion lek. Within this group, the strongest increase relates to maintenance arrears, while overdue payments for investments saw a slight decline.

At the local level, the total value of arrears reached 3.11 billion lek. The Ministry of Finance report shows that Kavajë Municipality leads with the highest debt stock, at 719.3 million lek. Next come Tirana, Pogradec, Dimal, and Cërrik, with arrears ranging from 140 million to 280 million lek.

The fact that overdue arrears have increased while the budget has recorded a high surplus raises questions about how public spending is implemented and whether payment discipline toward contractors is being respected.

Even though the revenue surplus could have been used to reduce unpaid bills, institutions have continued to create new arrears. Consequently, payments for goods, services, investments, and other spending categories have been postponed.

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The Kosovo Hydrometeorological Institute warned last week that the country could be hit by powerful storms, accompanied by thunderstorms, heavy rain, hail and strong winds. According to the warning, the storms could bring lightning strikes, endangering people and animals, as well as causing damage to the electricity grid, power outages and disruptions to telecommunications networks.

Following the announcement, municipalities raised concerns that they lack sufficient financial resources to manage such situations. For this reason, they are calling for the creation of an emergency fund.

The Emergency Management Agency (EMA) announced that it had increased its level of operational and coordination readiness.

In a written response, the EMA explained that operational readiness entails forwarding the warning to all professional firefighting and rescue units. Meanwhile, coordination readiness includes increasing staffing at the Agency’s Operations Center and implementing standard operating procedures to coordinate support for the local level.

The Agency emphasized that when a disaster exceeds the capacities of the affected municipality, the EMA initiates and coordinates mutual assistance from neighboring municipalities and central-level institutions.

The chairman of the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, Sazan Ibrahimi, told KP that municipalities’ financial capacity to cope with storms is extremely limited. According to him, institutional responsibility for such situations lies with the central level of government.

Ibrahimi said municipalities are in an extremely unfavorable financial position, while tens of millions of euros, according to him, are being unfairly taken away from them. As a result, they lack the capacity to take significant measures related to climate change.

He stressed that the Government of the Republic of Kosovo administers the state budget and that the central level manages more than 77-78% of it. For this reason, according to Ibrahimi, municipalities cannot take major financial action following storm warnings.

The head of the Association of Kosovo Municipalities added that the central level also bears institutional responsibility for covering or reimbursing damage caused by floods and other natural phenomena to agriculture, residents, infrastructure and businesses.

Ibrahimi said that residents of various municipalities are still waiting for compensation from the Government for damage caused by the 2022 floods.

According to him, the failure to establish an Emergency Fund, despite the requests submitted, is one of the reasons for these delays. He said the Association had identified two measures that would enable faster compensation for residents affected by natural disasters.

As a first measure, the Association has proposed establishing an emergency fund for municipalities. Ibrahimi explained that this would be a budget line through which the central level could respond immediately via the municipalities, as the latter have no dedicated budget line to cover the costs of flooding.

He stressed that the absence of such a budget line is delaying compensation for damage and that some residents are not receiving full compensation for the losses they have suffered.

The second problem, according to Ibrahimi, concerns bureaucracy at the central level. Once municipalities prepare reports on damage caused by natural phenomena, including floods, they are approved by the municipal assemblies.

He noted that the municipal assembly is the highest decision-making body at the local level and is composed of members representing both the governing parties and the opposition. However, when the reports are sent to the Emergency Management Agency, they can be reviewed and reassessed, further prolonging the process.

To avoid this delay, the Association has called for assessment commissions to include representatives of both municipalities and the central level. According to Ibrahimi, bureaucratic procedures are taking an unnecessary amount of time.

The mayor of the Municipality of Rahovec, Smajl Latifi, has also called for the establishment of an Emergency Fund, saying that such a mechanism would help manage emergency situations.

Latifi said Kosovo’s municipalities currently have no emergency funds. He noted that requests and appeals had been made for municipalities to be allowed to have at least their own emergency funds so they could manage such cases.

According to him, it is essential for municipalities to have an emergency fund and the right to manage situations arising from natural disasters.

The mayor of Rahovec also called on the Government of Kosovo to compensate residents of the municipality for damage amounting to 3-4 million euros.

Latifi said the time had finally come for the Government to pay for damage caused in the municipalities of the Republic of Kosovo. He said affected residents of the Municipality of Rahovec have been waiting since 2022 for payments of 3-4 million euros to be disbursed in order to alleviate the consequences of the damage accumulated over the years.

Meanwhile, municipal authorities in South Mitrovica said they had faced flooding at the beginning of their term in office. Municipal spokesperson Shkëlzen Haliti said the situation had been managed well and that all necessary steps had been taken, even though the directors of the relevant departments were not in place at the time.

Haliti also considered the creation of an Emergency Fund essential. According to him, the fund would facilitate the municipality’s work overall and allow assistance to be provided to residents in real time.

He explained that, in various emergencies, legal procedures for payments and other matters can take time. According to Haliti, a fund secured in advance would allow the municipality to intervene more quickly and efficiently, responding immediately to residents’ needs.

In recent years, Kosovo has faced floods that have caused damage in most municipalities.

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