The government on Wednesday announced that the value of the salary coefficient for public sector wages will be 105 euros. 

The decision has angered many unions in the public sector, which have claimed that the coefficient is not enough, considering the high inflation rate last year and the higher prices it has brought. 

“This does not meet our expectations, but enables over 90 per cent of our membership to have an average salary increase of 100 euros,” the Union of Education, Science and Culture, SBASHK, declared on Thursday.

The highest base salary in pre-university education will be for high school principals, with a coefficient of 6.3, or 661.5 euros. Additional bonuses like experience, extra working hours, etc. will be added to the salary later. 

The Prosecution Council and the Judicial Council have also expressed deep dissatisfaction with the coefficient, claiming the functioning of the prosecutorial system has been compromised.

“The Prosecutorial Council finds that in this case the functioning of the prosecutorial system has been violated,”  it said in its reaction.

Under the salary coefficient, salaries in the justice system are expected to be halved, the same as with salaries for the executive. 

From 3,450 euros currently received by the Chief State Prosecutor and the President of the Supreme Court, under the new Law on salaries it is expected to be 1,785 euros, which is 1,665 euros less.

A decrease  is also due in the salaries of judges in basic courts. From about 2,000 currently, their salaries are expected to drop to 1,260 euros.

The Judicial Council of Kosovo announced that it will turn to the Ombudsman to send the law to the Constitutional Court.

The new wage law has also been criticized by opposition parties.

The Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, said the coefficients will impoverish citizens and are another incentive for citizens to leave the country. This party suggested that the coefficient be set at 125 euros.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, declared that with this law, the government has hit citizens. According to them, the coefficient should be at least 120 euros.

Dissatisfaction with the new coefficient was also expressed by the Association of Doctors of Kosovo, who stated that 55.5 per cent of doctors do not agree with the coefficient.

According to the new coefficient for public staff in the health system, the highest salary will be for the director of University Clinical Centre of Kosovo, UCCK,  at 1,470 euros with a coefficient of 14. The lowest salary will be for assistant nurses with a coefficient of 4.5, which translates to 472.5 euros.

Firefighters are also dissatisfied; the highest salary, for the commander of the fire brigade, will be 840 euros, while the lowest salary for  firefighters will be 546 euros.

Regarding the new salary coefficient, the private sector has also requested salary increases.

The head of the private sector union, Jusuf Azemi, on Friday requested that private sector employees working in state institutions be paid according to the Salary Law.

For those working in maintenance in government ministries, who are paid 180 euros, he sought an average of 400 euros per month.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Wednesday declared that according to the Ministry of Finance, in 2024 the value of the salary coefficient will be 110 euros.

The President will have the highest coefficient in Kosovo.

According to the new law, the coefficient for the position of President will be 18, which means a salary of 1,890 euros a month in 2023.

The salaries law was approved by the Assembly of Kosovo on December 22, 2022 and will enter into force on February 5.