The Albanian media outlet Nacionale recently reported that the Kosovo Special Prosecutor’s Office has filed a criminal charge against Nagip Krasniqi, the former head of the Kosovo energy company KEK – Korporata Energjetike e Kosovës. The reason for the charges was that Krasniqi allegedly favoured a Slovenian company in the purchase of electricity. The former head of KEK is closely linked to the Kosovo diplomat Martin Berishaj, and is also a good friend of the Slovenian Prime Minister, Robert Golob.
Last April, we reported that it was only a matter of time before the house of cards around Golob’s Albanian financial affair started to fall down. Everything seems to be heading in that direction. The Kosovo police have arrested Nagip Krasniqi, Executive Director of the Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEK). He was arrested on the orders of the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office, as he was accused of several criminal offences. He was detained for 48 hours.
As we have previously reported, Krasniqi was also involved in the Kosovo police investigations against the Kosovo Ambassador to Croatia, Martin Berishaj, Golob’s alleged financial mule. Just a month before his arrest, Krasniqi met Berishaj and other energy suppliers in Zagreb. During the police search, documents, three computers, a laptop, a mobile phone, a USB stick and “other material evidence” were seized.
It should be noted that Krasniqi was also involved in the investigations of Ambassador Martin Berishaj. According to our reliable sources, he met with Berishaj and other energy suppliers in Zagreb, and electricity prices in Kosovo skyrocketed under his leadership. Krasniqi was the head of the LVV Energy Committee before becoming the Executive Director of KEK. According to some sources, this is a person who was deliberately “set up” by Kurti in KEK.
Electricity was also purchased from the GEN company
Some time ago, the former Director of KEK himself admitted that he had negotiated the sale and purchase of energy with the intermediary Berishaj. Krasniqi has also admitted in the past that electricity was also purchased from the GEN energy group, which has sales outlets in several Balkan countries and has its main branch in Slovenia. Authorities suspect that he has been negotiating with the Ministry of the Economy for financial support to overcome the energy crisis.
The President of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Memli Krasniqi, also responded to the arrest at the time, and he has repeatedly called for Berishaj’s arrest in the past, “because of the suspicious corruption scandal and the great damage he has caused to Kosovo’s image.” It should be noted that Berishaj’s visit to Kosovo last January was not well received. Namely, Milot Krasniqi, a member of the PDK party, was arrested, as he furiously walked up to Berishaj at an event where the latter was sitting in the front row, and started throwing paper money at him.
Former Prime Minister of Slovenia, Janez Janša, was also among the many who responded to the recent arrest of the Director of KEK, Krasniqi. Janša wrote: “The latest: arrests and house raids in Kosovo’s electrical industry, apparently as a result of the findings of the investigation into the Berishaj – GENI – Prime Minister Robert Golob case.” The arrest of the KEK Director has caused quite a stir in the public, as this means that the circle around the energy business is slowly tightening. It should also be pointed out that Kosovo’s Ambassador Berishaj received money transfers from a GEN-i subsidiary to his companies’ accounts.
Illegal favours for a Slovenian company
According to the latest information from the media outlet Nacionale, the Kosovo Special Prosecutor’s Office has filed an indictment against the former head of KEK, Krasniqi. The news was announced in a press release by the prosecutor’s office. In it, the authorities added that Krasniqi had been in detention for several months on suspicion of abuse of official duty. The press also learned that the indictment contains details of favours Krasniqi allegedly provided to a Slovenian company to buy electricity. It is not yet known whether Ambassador Berishaj is connected to this case.
Domen Mezeg
