Lobby Contract Cancelled After Balkan Insight Probe

The government had awarded the contract, worth 600,000 euro a year, without a tender process in October, appearing to flout Kosovo’s own procurement rules.

But following an investigation by Balkan Insight, published one month ago, last Friday the decision to “promote and protect the interests of the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo abroad” through the €50,000 a month deal was repealed in a meeting of the cabinet.

Government spokesman Memli Krasniqi continued to insist to Balkan Insight that the government had not broken any procurement rules and was allowed to carry out a ‘single source tender’, where only one firm is allowed to bid.

But he admitted that the reversal of the decision came following advice from the Office of Prime Minister’s legal department, which warned that it required ‘detailed proposals in advance’ of such deals being awarded.

Balkan Insight asked the legal department for clarification on why it had recommended the cancellation of the deal but received no response.

Krasniqi's assertion that the government’s decision did not break tender rules was out of step, however, with comments from the head of Public Procurement Agency, PPA.

By law, the Office of the Prime Minister, which was leading the process, should have gained permission from the PPA before awarding any such deal, even if no contract had been signed.

As it had decided to negotiate the price with only one firm, the Office of the Prime Minister should have applied to the PPA with documents demonstrating why only one firm could supply the services.

Only then, according to law, would the government have been allowed to begin negotiations with a specific lobby company.

The head of the PPA, Mursel Racaj, had told Balkan Insight previously that this process had not happened.

Following the government’s move to cancel the contract, deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuci told press that the appointment of Patton Boggs had been a “preliminary decision in consultation with the foreign affairs ministry, with the former president, and other actors”.

He added that the government had decided to repeal its orginal decision to ensure that procedures were “fully respected” and in order “not to create any dilemma”.

“If there is a need for such lobbying, for sure, after the new government will be elected, another decision on this case will be made,” he said.

Patton Boggs’ foreign affairs adviser is Frank Wisner. The former US Secretary of State under George Bush, Condoleezza Rice, appointed Wisner as the US’s special representative to the Kosovo Status Talks in 2005, where he played a crucial role in negotiating Kosovo’s independence.

There is no suggestion that Patton Boggs acted inappropriately in obtaining the contract.