The majority of Pristina's budget for this year will be oriented towards capital investments. The document that prompted various discussions during yesterday's extraordinary session, however, does not contain the main project that Mayor Përparim Rama promised. This year, an increase in the budget for the Administration Directorate is planned, an action that, according to monitors, is a frequent tactic of municipalities. Meanwhile, the budget for the Social Welfare Directorate has been reduced.
The Capital City's budget for 2026, approved the day before in the Municipal Assembly, sparked debate on the form of distribution of financial resources.
The majority of the budget, weighing over 151 million euros, has been allocated for capital investments.
53 million euros will be available for this category, 23 million of which are a general grant.
A total of 41 projects are foreseen in this category.
7 million euros have been allocated for "George Bush" Square, while 1.6 million euros have been allocated for the underpass on "Agim Ramadani" Street, and over 2.1 million have also been allocated for the island of Arbëria.
The capital's outer ring road, the main project with which Përparim Rama campaigned before his two mandates, has not been included in the budget at all.
The municipality has not explained the reasons for not including this project.
2 million euros have been allocated for the "A" road and the collector there, over 700 thousand euros less than in last year's budget.
Another promise of Rama was digitalization in schools, and for such a center, for work, innovation, and digital access, the municipality has allocated 100 thousand euros from its own resources.
Compared to last year, the Directorate of Administration has marked a significant increase, which this year will have a budget of 4 million and 483 thousand euros, up from 3.8 million euros last year.
And, this increase in the budget for administration, according to monitors of municipal work, is a tactic that municipalities often use.
"This is happening to avoid the measurements of expenses made by the Mayor's Office. In the past, we have seen that the mayor's expenses have been continuously published, how much he has spent on official lunches, trips, representation, and now, to avoid focusing on the mayor's direct expenses, they have decided, as is the practice of some other municipalities, that the budget be focused on a budget code that is spent by the Directorate of Administration," said Shemsi Jashari - monitor of municipalities.
A budget reduction was observed at the Social Welfare Directorate.
This year, 430,500 euros have been allocated for it, down from over 480,000 last year.
Regarding new educational facilities, the Municipality has planned to build only one school and one kindergarten.
The latter is planned to be built between Hajvalija and Barileva at a cost of 150 thousand euros, while the school in the "Kalabria" neighborhood is planned to cost 100 thousand euros.
And, according to Jashari, this shows that Rama does not prioritize his promises during his mandates.
"The lack of investment in kindergartens causes problems for families, especially young families who find it necessary to send their children to kindergarten. Talking about full-day schooling in Pristina and on the other hand not providing additional infrastructure is inconsistent with each other and I think that full-day schooling will not be successful if there is no investment. It seems that most of the beautiful promises made during the campaign are not being reflected in this budget," said Shemsi Jashari - municipal monitor.
The budget was approved on Friday with 33 votes in favor, 8 against and no abstentions, with VV opposing it on the grounds that the allocation of funds leaves room for suspicions of misuse.
The proposal was also supported by PDK, the League for Pristina and the Social Democratic Initiative./TV Dukagjini/
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