Post of Kosovo Office opened in Rajska Banja spa complex

Post of Kosovo Office opened in Rajska Banja spa complex…

More than seven months have passed since the Privatization Agency of Kosovo took control of the spa complex „Rajska Banja.“ Approximately a month ago, on the ground floor of the part of the complex housing a hotel and restaurant, a new branch of the Post of Kosovo was opened.

One of the favorite resorts, as well as the only spa center in the north, situated in the village of Banjska, was shut down by this agency in December of last year, less than three months after the armed conflict that broke out in this village.

The complex has actually been closed since September 24. The Kosovo Police searched the complex on several occasions, where they found and confiscated weapons.

The Privatization Agency of Kosovo (KAP), as it was immediately revealed, leased it to the police, that is, to the Kosovo Ministry of Internal Affairs.

On the other hand, KAP also confirmed that it is a building owned by Trepča, whose facility, according to KAP, was renovated without prior permission from this agency.

Djurić’s „new era“

The „Rajska Banja“ complex was built over four years with the funds of the Republic of Serbia.

Construction of the facility started in 2015 and it was opened in 2019. According to earlier confirmations by Serbian institutions, the Garni SPA Hotel facility with an area of 1,227 square meters has accommodation capacity in the form of four apartments and eleven double rooms, with accompanying facilities (hall, reception, lobby, restaurant, kitchen, sanitary block, vertical and horizontal communication, technical area).

The value of the project was said to be at around 121 million dinars, the president of the Provisional Authority of the Municipality of Zvečan, Ivan Todosijević, confirmed at the time. Marko Djurić, the former head of the Kosovo Office, assessed that the newly built complex presented a „new era“ for the entire Banjska region in terms of tourism and economy.

With the exception of the reaction of the head of the Kosovo Office on the day when the locks were changed on the complex, and the statement of the Serbian president, two days later, that „Serbs will survive and preserve their property, their capital and their land“, it remains unknown whether the Serbian side has taken any concrete step for the return of the property in which it has invested millions.

New offer

Now, for the first time in years, the summer swimming season in this only resort of its type used by the Serbs in the north of Kosovo has not been opened, the only thing that opened in the area is the yellow door of the Post Office of Kosovo.

The post office is located on the ground floor of the part of the complex where the hotel and restaurant used to be, across the facility with the swimming pools and spa.

For bills, fines, taxes…

When we visited the former Rajska Banja complex at 4 p.m. today, the post office was already closed, but we did encounter special police units at the scene.

They gave us flyers with information about the services this post office provides. Domestic traffic, international, other postal services outside the area of universal services, additional postal services, other postal services…

„Pay bills at the post office“ – reads the inscription at the entrance of the former tourist organization of the municipality of Zvečan, the former hotel „Rajska Banja,“ written in Albanian, then in Serbian.

Multi-purpose facility: In this facility, a referendum was held to replace the Albanian mayors who remained in power even after the referendum. There, the deputy commander of the Kosovo Police for the North region, Veton Elshani, celebrated the New Year along with the special forces with a barbecue. Before that, within the complex, the Kosovo police announced that they also found weapons in September of last year, immediately after the armed conflict. At one time, a multi-meter banner with the image of the president of the Provisional Authority of the Municipality of Zvečan, both the former and current president, Ivan Todosijević, with the message: We are all Todosijević, was displayed over this building.

Locals refused to give statements for the media, however, we learned unofficially that the Post of Kosovo has been open for about three weeks.

„I heard about it, I didn’t go there, and I don’t need their services,“ one of the passers-by told us today.

Earlier today, the KoSSev portal reached out to the Post of Kosovo regarding the information as to how and who gave them the right to use the premises of the former Rajska Banja spa complex. Our inquiries, however, remained unanswered by the time this news was published.

1 od 6