Wrote: Etrit Rexhepi
"Albin Kurti increases his salary the most!!! SHAME" is the caption that was put on a photos published on TikTok which shows salaries in the public sector, according to the latest proposal of the Government of Kosovo.
The publication was made by the account named "tavnikcitypdk" yesterday (October 30). The account based it on a publication by the portal "indeksonline", while adding the caption.
The truth?
The proposal for a gross salary increase applies to all employees in the public sector, as presented to the media two days ago. The proposed increase in gross salaries is 55 euros from January 2025 and another 55 euros from July 2025. So the proposal applies to everyone and not for someone to have a gross increase more than someone else.
The TikTok social media account in question has received a publication from the "indeksonline" portal on Facebook. It presents the current gross salaries of state leaders and the gross salaries according to the Government's proposal from next year. In the published list, the president's gross salary is the highest with 1980 euros gross currently and 2090 euros according to the proposal after next July. The prime minister's salary is second with 1870 euros gross currently and 1980 euros gross according to the proposal after next July. The list also presents the gross salaries of deputy prime ministers, ministers, deputies and deputy ministers. In all, it can be seen that the increase is 110 euros - so the same increase for all employees.
The publication by "tavnikcitypdk" until the moment of treatment by hibrid.info, has accumulated more than 181 thousand clicks. The publication has received over 1300 likes and more than 280 comments.
What was proposed by the Government?
In a press conference on October 29, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Minister of Finance, Hekuran Murati, warned that there would be no increase in the value of the coefficient (which is currently 110 euros), but that the coefficient would increase by one unit (0.5 in January and 0.5 in July), for each public sector employee.
"So, the value of a coefficient remains 110 euros, but the amount of coefficients per unit increases, starting from January of next year by 0.5 units, that is, by half a unit, and then from July of next year by another 0.5 units. In other words, someone who has a coefficient of 5.6, in January becomes 6.1, and in July the coefficient becomes 6.6. Similarly, for someone who has a coefficient of 10.5, from January it becomes 11.0, and from July it becomes 11.5. Expressed in monetary value, it means that all employees in the public sector, their salaries will increase by 55 euros starting from January, and by 110 euros from July of next year 2025," Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in conference.
Analyze:
The TikTok account “tavnikcitypdk” has published an image taken from the information portal “indeksonline” showing a list of current salaries of state leaders and salaries proposed by the Government for next year. This TikTok account has added the caption “Albin Kurti increases his salary the most!!! SHAME” to the image.
However, according to the Government's proposal for salary increases next year, but also the list itself published by the account in question, show that the increase is proposed to be the same for everyone (from 55 euros gross in January 2025 and another 55 euros in July 2025).
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this publication as "Manipulation of facts" and "Disinformation".
Reasoning:
“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.
A “Disinformation” rating is given to media reporting that contains a “mix” of inaccurate sources or even half-truthful content. This rating will also address reports that have incorrect attributions or headlines that do not reflect the text in terms of information accuracy.