The prosecution alleges that a public call was used to unlawfully transfer prime public land in Lakërishtë, one of Pristina’s most expensive areas, from the city’s public housing enterprise (NPB) to private ownership. This transfer was linked to NPB’s approval of a €120 million joint construction contract. In June 2024, prosecutors charged eight NPB officials with abuse of office, while the former NPB director was also accused of entering a harmful contract. At the initial hearing in February 2025, the defendants pleaded not guilty, and the proceedings remain ongoing.

In November 2021, the portal Kallxo.com published an investigative report uncovering numerous irregularities surrounding plans by Pristina’s public housing enterprise (NPB) to develop a residential and commercial complex in the city’s central Lakërishtë neighbourhood. Valued at approximately €120 million, the project was described as one of Pristina’s largest construction investments.

The report revealed that in March 2021, NPB announced a public call for a joint construction project, giving businesses only three days to submit their bids – an unusually short timeframe for a major construction investment. Moreover, Made Group Construction, which led the winning consortium, was registered as a business on the same day the call was made. Despite this, it quickly formed a consortium with two other firms, Madekos and Arkos, and submitted a bid. Additionally, NPB failed to publicly disclose the project's eligibility and financial criteria at the time of the announcement. These factors raised suspicions that the process was rigged.

Kallxo.com also revealed that the contract with the consortium was based on NPB’s newly adopted internal regulations, allegedly tailored to facilitate this specific investment. A particularly concerning clause stated that the entire property would be permanently allocated for residential-commercial use. Kosovo’s minister of environment, Liburn Aliu, argued that this amounted to privatisation and urged the prosecution to investigate the entire process.

After the demolition of old buildings at the designated construction site, excavations revealed materials containing asbestos, prompting the Ministry of Environment to suspend the project. In response, NPB’s board of directors decided to dismiss CEO Hajdar Hoxhaj. However, as they tried to formalise this decision, members of the municipal shareholders commission dismissed and replaced the board – an action widely seen as an attempt to keep Hoxhaj in office and push the project forward. Meanwhile, Kosovo police initiated an investigation into potential violations related to this contract.

In August 2022, 17 Vetëvendosje municipal assembly members filed a lawsuit to annul the contract, but the basic court dismissed it, citing a lack of evidence linking the plaintiffs' alleged subjective rights to the disputed property.

In May 2023, the Kosovo police carried out raids in multiple locations to gather evidence as part of its ongoing probe. While some suspects denied any wrongdoing in statements to the police and the prosecutor's office, others, including former chief executive Hajdar Hoxhaj, exercised their right to remain silent.

Meanwhile, in June 2023, after seeking a legal opinion from the municipality of Pristina, the shareholders of the public housing enterprise annulled the decision to proceed with the commercial-residential project in Lakërishtë.

On 7 June 2024, the special prosecutor's office filed an indictment against eight former NPB officials, including former NPB head Hajdar Hoxhaj, former municipal representative and shareholder Dren Kukaj, and former NPB shareholders Vesel Makolli, Genc Sherifi, Lendita Mekuli Myderrizi, Arbnora Jashanica, Xhevdet Leci and Bekim Pireva. The indictment, amended on 16 September 2024, accuses the defendants of deliberately abusing their official positions and exceeding their authority to unlawfully secure financial benefits for third parties, to the detriment of public property.

The indictment alleges that on 21 November 2020, defendants Hoxhaj, Myderrizi, Jashanica, Leci and Pireva approved the regulation on increasing NPB’s real estate through construction, despite knowing it lacked a legal basis under the applicable law. The regulation was allegedly intended to facilitate the construction project in Lakërishtë. Furthermore, the project's execution was facilitated by an agreement reached on 22 April 2021, which led to the submission of the draft contract to the municipal shareholders' commission for approval. According to the indictment, this contract enabled the unlawful transfer of four NPB owned parcels, totalling 17,828 m², to private ownership.

The indictment further alleges that Kukaj, Sherifi and Makolli violated the Law on Business Organisations by amending NPB’s statute on 15 January 2021 to align it with the Lakërishtë construction project. Subsequently, on 22 April 2021, they approved the controversial contract.

As a result of these actions, the eight defendants have been charged with abuse of official position or authority. The indictment claims their actions caused significant damage to the NPB and the municipality of Pristina, its sole shareholder, amounting to €28.7 million. Additionally, the damages include the construction permit fees paid by NPB, totalling €376,346.

The indictment also charges Hajdar Hoxhaj with entering a harmful contract. As NPB’s CEO, he knowingly signed a contract with Made Group Construction that unlawfully granted private companies permanent use of public property designated for public use.

The special prosecutor’s office requested the court to annul the contract, confiscate the property and return it to public ownership. It also sought financial compensation for the losses incurred and a ban preventing the defendants from holding positions in public administration. The court later reportedly seized the property.

On 3 February 2025, during the initial hearing, all eight defendants pleaded not guilty before the basic court in Pristina. The proceedings are ongoing.

This case illustrates how officials within public institutions and enterprises abused their power to illegally gain benefits for themselves or others. In this instance, their actions caused significant damage to the budgets of the municipality of Pristina and NPB, amounting to €28.7 million. Besides the financial consequences, corruption of this scale erodes public trust in state institutions and the rule of law. Citizens must demand accountability from these institutions to prevent further exploitation of public resources.