Content is being published claiming that a dairy factory has been closed by decision of the Government of Kosovo.
Articles with this claim were published on Thursday (July 2) in the media "GazetaBlic.com""GazetaTema.net","Shqiptarja.com","Report-tv.al"and on the suspicious portal"infofirst.net".
The content was also published as a post on Facebook on the page named “ALB BANIA” (see here).
What's wrong with the content?
The claim in the title is not accurate. The factory was inspected by the Food and Veterinary Agency (AUV), while the decision to temporarily close it was made by the company itself.
Hibrid.info has checked the content of the articles with this claim in the title. It reports that the "Vita" dairy factory in Istog has been temporarily closed by decision of its managers following inspections by the AUV.
The FVA has stated that no measures have been taken to close the factory after the inspections.
The inspection was only verification and for sampling, while the final results are expected to be released after laboratory analyses.
The inspection was carried out after the company reduced milk production from July 1 due to a lack of market. The AUVA says that during the inspection, non-compliance with applicable laws was found.
Meanwhile, the factory director, Artan Spahia, claimed that the inspections were ordered by Minister Armend Muja and that the decision was targeted only at his company.
Hibrid.info conducted additional research on the claims in this text. First, the check was made on the sources of information of the parties involved in the event. On the Facebook page of the AUVA as the competent institution, a post dated July 2 was found regarding this situation.
in notification It was stated that the AUV conducted an extraordinary inspection at an entity that deals with milk processing and the production of dairy products, with the aim of verifying the compliance of its activity with legal requirements and food safety standards.
During the inspection, it was stated that non-compliance with the legislation in force was found, after verification of documentation, physical inspection of the facility and inspection of production lines.
According to this institution, the entity does not possess a special authorization for the production and processing of products based on vegetable fats and milk proteins, for the purposes declared on the labeling.
The FVA stated that up to this stage it has not made any decision to close the entity, as the inspection only included verification and taking samples for analysis.
Final administrative and legal actions will be determined upon receipt of laboratory results, which will serve as the basis for the final assessment of the case.
While in aconference In a press release dated July 3, the “Vita” dairy confirmed the inspection that was carried out at this company by the AUVA. At the conference, it was stated that the acting minister, Armend Muja, took a decision on July 2 for an urgent inspection at the “Vita” dairy.
According to them, the control was carried out by a group composed of representatives of the Ministry and the FVA.
Artan Spahija, the general director of this company, announced that the decision to temporarily suspend activity was not made by the Ministry or the FVA, but by the company's board itself.
He added that the suspension was made after the FVA took samples of "Vita 3.2%" milk for laboratory analysis.
This company requested that the analyses be conducted and published as soon as possible, stating that it is ready to resume milk collection immediately.
Initial statement from the press conference of the “Vita” dairy
"Initially they came as inspectors, then it turned out that they were from the Ministry. With a decision dated 02.07, the acting minister Armend Muja, 19 / 18, has made a decision for an emergency inspection of the “Vita” dairy. We have welcomed them in the office and asked them to introduce themselves for what and who they have come because there was a very large number. We have only received this from the minister's advisor and not from anyone else. Unfortunately, I can say that there was a working group, which did not deal with us at all. There were representatives from the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the KVFA. Then all of them started visiting the factory. I would like to inform you that the decision to suspend was not made by either the Ministry or the KVFA. We have made these as a board. The reason for this decision was that samples of “Vita 3,2” milk were taken, with the claim of analysis. We have said, we appeal to you again, that as soon as possible, the analyses be done, published and we are ready, today or tomorrow to start the collection.
The acting Minister of Agriculture, Armend Muja, also declared about the inspection in question through a statement. posting on his Facebook account. He said that the control carried out at the company "Vita" is a regular inspection by the FVA which is part of the legal mandate of this institution to verify the implementation of the law, food safety standards, licenses and authorizations by economic operators in the food sector.
To further confirm the claim, hibrid.info also checked using the search engine "Google", with the words "vita dairy" (see here). The search results have shown several credible media articles reporting that this company has temporarily closed down (see here, here and here).
Hibrid.info further researched the official institutional websites (here and here) and on the website of the company “Vita” (here), in order to find official documents that would confirm the decisions declared by the parties. However, the search did not find documents confirming decisions for inspection or suspension of work, neither in institutional sources nor on the company's official website.
Analyze:
The titles and contents of some published articles present the claim that the "Vita" dairy factory in Istog has been closed by decision of the Government of Kosovo.
From the verification of the facts and statements of the parties involved, it results that the Food and Veterinary Agency (AUV) has only conducted an extraordinary verification inspection and sampling, without taking any decision to close. Meanwhile, the decision to temporarily suspend the factory's activity was taken voluntarily by the company's board of directors itself.
Therefore, based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this content as "Disinformation" and "Manipulation of facts".
Reasoning:
"Disinformation" is defined as information content that contains a "mix" of inaccurate sources or even half-truthful attributes, and that is created and/or distributed with the deliberate intention of causing harm. The motive behind the producers/distributors of disinformation content lies in achieving a political, financial, psychological or social goal.
“Factual manipulation” is a rating given to informational content that uses facts known to be accurate but interprets them in a distorted manner. These reports typically use accurate information to draw incorrect conclusions or claims, thereby misleading consumers of media content about the actual meaning of the facts presented.