Incorrect statement by Minister Vitia, who stated that the salaries of doctors in Kosovo are among the highest in the Western Balkans

Written by Etrit Rexhepi

Minister of Health, Arben Vitia, gave an interview, published on February 25, for the Ekonomia Online news agency.

Vitia stated in this interview that doctors in Kosovo have one of the highest salaries in the Western Balkans region.

After verifying the facts by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that compared to the Western Balkan countries, only Serbia has lower salaries for doctors, compared to Kosovo, which, according to the assessment, makes Minister Vitia's statement incorrect.

Link to the video material of Minister Vitia's interview, published by "Ekonomia Online":

Statement by Minister Vitia:

"Since last year, doctors now have a dignified salary, one of the highest salaries that doctors have in the Western Balkans region." (see here)

Analyze:

To verify Minister Arben Vitia's statement, hibrid.info has researched through search engines about the salaries of doctors in the Western Balkan countries.

According to the findings, Montenegro has the highest salaries in the region in this sector. According to a notification issued (June 06, 2023) by the Montenegrin government, medical specialists and dental specialists are paid 2,065.83 euros, subspecialists – 2,538.42 euros, selected doctors – 1,615.75 euros and intermediate medical personnel receive a salary of 776.34 euros (see here).

Other findings place Croatia behind Montenegro in terms of doctors' salaries. Several Croatian media articles report a statement by the Croatian Minister of Health, Vili Beros, who talks about current salaries and the expected increase that will include them from this year (see here and here).

The articles show that specialist doctors are paid 1771 euros, doctors without specialization and those in specialization receive salaries of 1592 and 1500 euros, while nurses with a master's degree and those with secondary vocational education have salaries of 784 euros and 615 euros, respectively.

Excerpt taken from two Croatian media articles:

• The salary of a specialist doctor increases from 1771 euros to 2500 euros, with on-call and overtime up to 3500 euros, which is an increase of 40%.
• The salary of a doctor without specialization increases from 1.592 euros to 1.968 euros, and with on-call and overtime work up to 2.500 euros, which is an increase of 23%.
• The salary of a doctor in specialization increases from 1500 euros to 1850 euros and with on-call and overtime work up to 2400 euros, which is an increase of 23%.
• The salary for a master's degree in nursing increases from 784 euros to 1700 euros and with availability and overtime up to 1900 euros, which is an increase of 116%.
• The salary of a nurse with secondary vocational education (SHSSH) increases from 615 euros to 1149 euros, with on-call and overtime up to 1300 euros, which is an increase of 86%.

Hibrid.info has also researched the salaries of doctors in Bosnia and found an article (September 06, 2023) by the Bosnian media outlet "radiosarajeba.ba", reporting on a press conference by the Prime Minister of the Sarajevo Canton, Nihad Uk (see here).

Using Google's currency exchange tool (here) "hibrid.info" has obtained data from this article which shows that specialist doctors have salaries of 4086 KM (2,089.60 euros), doctors in specialization 2551 KM (1,304.60 euros), masters of pharmacy, biologists and other professional staff are paid 2,222 KM (1,136.34 euros), head nurses/technicians receive salaries of 2,329 KM (1,191.06 euros), nurses/technicians who are out of work, their salary goes up to 2,167 KM (1,108.22 euros) and those who are nurses/technicians 1,762 KM (901.10 euros).

Regarding North Macedonia and Albania, after research and verification by hibrid.info, although difficulties were encountered in finding official information, from an article by the information portal "telegrafi.com", published 1 year ago, it was found that the salaries of doctors in North Macedonia, at the Clinical Center are up to 1.620 euros, while the average salary of specialist doctors in general hospitals is around 1.400 euros (see here).

Meanwhile, in Albania, last year (April 5), Prime Minister Edi Rama announced the salary increase, stating that the salary of a nurse will be 72 thousand lek (about 637 euros), specialist doctors at the QSUT will have a salary of 174 thousand lek (1,540 euros), while salaries for general practitioners will be 131 thousand lek (1,160 euros) and nurses 87 thousand lek (770 euros)" (see here).

Further findings by “hibrid.info” show that Serbia has the lowest salaries among these countries in the healthcare sector. The article by the Serbian media “blic.rs” (April 26, 2023) reports on the increase in doctors’ salaries, announced by the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vučić (see here).

According to the announcement, the basic salary of a specialist doctor has increased to 133.875 dinars (1,142.47 euros). The basic salary of a doctor in a health center after the increase is 108 thousand (921.65 euros), while nurses, from February of this year, receive from 62.370 (532.26 euros) to 78.750 dinars (672.04 euros) (here).

The presented ranking of the Western Balkan countries in terms of salaries of white-collar workers is also confirmed by these articles researched by hibrid.info and published by several Albanian and Serbian language media (see here, here and here).

How much are doctors' salaries in Kosovo?

Hibrid.info has found an article that shows the salaries of doctors based on last year's salary coefficient (105), while the calculation of the salaries of white-coat workers is made according to the salary coefficient (110) for the year 2024 (see here).

Salary table for doctors in Kosovo:

Conclusion:

The statement by the Minister of Health that the salaries of doctors in Kosovo are among the highest in the Western Balkans does not match the data found by "hibrid.info".

Based on researching data through search engines, hibrid.info has found that only in Serbia are salaries for doctors lower than in Kosovo, in terms of the Western Balkans region.

Based on the methodology of working on the category of truthfulness, hibrid.info assesses Minister Vitia's statement as an untrue statement.

Rating:

In the category of truthfulness, those statements that contain statements related to objective facts, the accuracy of which can be determined through objective verification, are evaluated. Statements treated in this category receive the assessment – ​​false statement, half-truth, or even true statement.