Kosovo’s acting Deputy Prime Minister, Besnik Bislimi, is currently being interrogated by the Special Prosecution of Kosovo. The questioning relates to an investigation into alleged irregularities concerning the leasing of an animal waste processing plant.
Bislimi arrived at the Special Prosecution building at 9:30 AM, and his capacity during the interrogation (as a witness or suspect) has not yet been disclosed.
Previous Interrogations and Allegations
This case has already seen the interrogation of acting Minister of Agriculture, Faton Peci, and the Chief Executive of the Food and Veterinary Agency, Bekim Hoxha. Both were questioned for several hours on May 27 in the capacity of suspects.
Peci and Hoxha were interrogated following raids conducted on May 27 at the Ministry of Agriculture, the Agency for Agricultural Development, the Veterinary Agency, and the premises of the beneficiary company involved in the case.
The Animal Waste Plant at the Center of the Controversy
The factory in question is located in the Industrial Park in Drenas. Its construction, costing €7.7 million, was completed in December 2019. The plant was designed to process and dispose of animal by-products.
However, the factory only became operational in 2024, when a call was opened for companies to apply for its use and to begin collecting and categorizing animal by-products. It was reported that the Kosovar company LIP KS & IT SH.P.K. was selected to operate the plant for a period of 20 years, until 2044. Concerns arose because this company was reportedly registered with the Kosovo Business Registration Agency (ARBK) only five days after the application call was issued.
It is suspected that the selected company did not meet the stipulated criteria, which included having 12 to 15 years of experience in processing animal by-products and demonstrating that it had processed 20,000 tons of animal by-products in the last three years.
One day before the raids on the Ministry of Agriculture, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) alleged that acting Minister Peci had leased the property for the animal waste plant to a company for 20 years without a public auction. The PDK stated that the Ministry of Agriculture violated the Law on Public Property, which, according to them, stipulates that public properties can only be leased through public auction and for a maximum of 15 years, unless a decision is made by the Assembly of Kosovo.
