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By:
Jehona Gjinovci
- November 25, 2025 08:54
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The protest of public and private transporters in the Municipality of Pristina, due to non-payment, is continuing today in a different form.
Unlike Monday, when after the suspension of all lines, workers protested in front of the Municipality building and the Government building, today the buses of "Urban Traffic" and those of private lines have paraded through the streets of the capital and will be located near the Pristina Municipality building.
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"We will parade through the city with buses and go near the Municipality building to stop the buses, as much as we can so as not to stop the movement of citizens there or other cars," Gashi said in an interview for the "Sot" show.
According to the "Urban Traffic" Union, the workers of this company have not received their salaries for two months, while their debt to suppliers has exceeded 1.6 million euros.
Due to delays in decision-making by the municipal assemblies, the Pristina, Gjilan and Zubin Potok budgets have not been included in the 2025 Kosovo budget. This was not done even after their approval in the municipalities, since Kosovo has functioned without an Assembly for almost the entire year, due to the political deadlock created after the February national elections.
Urban Traffic Workers Demand Responsibility from the Municipality, Rama Urgent Meeting with the Government
Photo: Driton Pacharada
The representative of the Urban Traffic union, Ilmi Gashi, said that the workers of this enterprise demand responsibility from the Municipality of Pristina for the debts incurred so far. And President Rama has requested an urgent meeting with the incumbent Government.
On the second day of the protest, in a statement to the media, Gashi apologized for the suspension of services. He demanded that the Municipality take responsibility for paying off the debt.
"We apologize to all citizens of Pristina who have used public transport, urban traffic and private ones in cooperation with the Municipality... for the lack of reflection of the municipality, where it is rightly based that on a contractual basis it is a debtor of Urban Traffic. The amount of the debt is 3.2 million euros," he said.
Gashi said that the Ministry of Finance has allocated 3.2 million euros to the municipality, of which the municipality has allocated 600 thousand for Urban Traffic.
"It does not cover the oil costs that we owe a million. 800 thousand workers on salaries. 100 thousand are having their contracts with health insurance terminated. Please, there is a debt of 1.6 million euros. The municipality is not reflecting, it is forcing us to do so, as if the Ministry had not allocated the money. We were at the Ministry, we met with the Minister. We contacted them, they pledged that if the municipality or the assembly issues a decision on the transfer of own-source revenues for 2024, as soon as that decision is issued and forwarded to the Ministry, it is ready to allocate the funds," Gashi continued.
"We are the public transport sector. We call on the municipality, the mayor to come forward. We are employees of the municipality. It is our right to demand responsibility there. Where he went and opened the door, for us let him take responsibility," he concluded.
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Meanwhile, the mayor of Pristina, Përparim Rama, in a press conference once again blamed the incumbent government for, as he said, holding hostage funds that should be allocated to the municipality.
"We have been warning for months about the blockades that are being made to the capital by the Ministry of Finance in an illegal manner. Yesterday we were with the protesters in front of the Ministry of Finance, in front of the Government where I requested an urgent meeting with the minister and the prime minister, but they refused to meet. I am also ready today to meet immediately wherever they want and unblock this process. Let's leave behind the evil blocking policies, the funds that belong to us by law be transferred immediately and salaries be paid. I am ready for any alternative way to solve this problem and unblock the process. The solution is very simple, it can be done immediately by the minister. The funds are ours, there is no legal basis to hold them hostage," he said at the press conference.
Rama added that other measures have also been taken, such as calling an extraordinary session for Thursday, where assembly members, according to him, will also vote on the transfer that has been blocked.
He added that once the issue with urban transporters is resolved, the call for the swearing-in of new assembly members will also be considered.
"We did not have time yesterday and today to deal with this issue due to the situation that has arisen," he said.