Gjakova Water Supply Company CEO Hasan Krasniqi was arrested on Tuesday as part of a Prosecutor’s action, which followed a KALLXO.com  investigation ten days prior linking him to illegal procurement procedures for the company vehicles servicing.

Special Prosecution confirmed Krasniqi’s arrest and ordered custody for the next 48 hours. 

The recordings show that Krasniqi admitted to his staff that he had instructed his driver, Valon Gunga, to find companies to service the vehicles. The latter,  who is the company driver, directed the company’s vehicles to his own family’s business.

A whistleblower informed KALLXO.com that the company driver, Valon Gunga, had been given the task of finding car mechanic service providers but instead directed the company’s vehicles to his family’s business. 

This raised concerns over potential conflicts of interest and the misuse of public funds.

As part of this arrangement, Dukagjin Gunga, Valon’s brother, performed the servicing. Valon, the contract manager, approved the work and the company paid Sulejman Burjani, the registered owner of “AM-Bur.”

In an interview with KALLXO.com, Krasniqi did not deny knowing the owner of the company that had won the contract. 

“As a citizen of Gjakova, I have taken my personal vehicle there for repairs before. But I have no personal ties to him. My only connection is through vehicle servicing. We might have had a coffee together in the past, but that’s about it,” he explained.

Regarding the recordings in which he was heard stating that he would personally find companies for the contract, Krasniqi claimed he had been frustrated because the procurement office had failed to secure bidders for two months.

“At that moment, we were stuck for two months without servicing the vehicles. The procurement office kept saying they couldn’t find a company willing to take the contract.”

In the following days, the Kosovo Procurement Review Organisation, OSHP,  instructed the Gjakova Regional Water Supply Company to cancel a car servicing contract after KALLXO.com uncovered alleged procurement irregularities.

The Board of Directors of KRU Gjakova subsequently issued a verbal warning to CEO Hasan Krasniqi and the management staff following the release of the audio recordings which implicated Krasniqi in the procurement procedure.

English version prepared by Ardita Zeqiri