Wrote: Etrit Rexhepi
The completion of the construction of the stadium in the city of Gjilan had been a pre-election promise in the 2021 elections.
This pledge was made by Alban Hyseni, mayor of Gjilan, who in the 2021 local elections was running to take over the position of mayor of Gjilan, from the ranks of the Vetëvendosje Movement.
What happened to the promise?
Although it was promised to be completed within the first year of government, the project was not completed even within Hysen's four-year mandate.
Analyze:
As can be seen from the photo, during the election campaign for the local elections of October 17, 2021, Hyseni had promised, through a post on his Facebook account, that the stadium would be completed within the mandate, if he were elected mayor (see here).
In a "Kallxo" television debate during the pre-election campaign, Hyseni had promised (20.09.2021) that "with our government, the stadium will be completed within the first year" (see here).
Hyseni had promised the completion of the stadium's construction in two other posts on Facebook, found by hibrid.info, which were published before (November 25) and after (December 16) he took office as mayor of Gjilan (see here and here).
Hyseni had even promised that work on the western part of the stadium would begin with increased intensity, as soon as weather conditions were more suitable, at the beginning (January 25) of 2022 (see here).
A month later (February 21), the mayor of Gjilan announced that the stadium was in the design phase, which included the discussion of the contract that already existed (see here).
Hibrid.info found a video material, published (October 10, 2022) on the official YouTube channel of the "KosovaPress" news agency, where Hyseni, in a joint conference with the now incumbent Prime Minister Albin Kurti, announced the termination of the contract for the construction of the stadium and announced the start of work on this project in the spring of 2023 (see here).
The failure to start construction work on the Gjilan Stadium in the spring of 2023 is evidenced by a post from September 16, when the mayor of Gjilan announced the signing of a memorandum of cooperation with the Minister of Sports, Hajrulla Çeku, for the completion of the project worth 15 million euros (see here).
While at the end of this year (December 1), the City Stadium was mentioned as a 2024 project, for which it was said that the tender procedure would begin a week later (see here).
But, in January 2024, the media reported that the Procurement Office had suspended the tender (see here).
In July 2024, the Procurement Review Body (PRB) Expert had recommended the cancellation of the tender for the renovation of the Gjilan stadium, and a month later the PRB had approved the complaints towards this process.
The project was canceled by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) on February 21, 2025 (see here).
Subsequently, MCYS reopened the tender for the Gjilan stadium (here) to suspend it again temporarily until the review of complaints from the parties that were part of the tender (here).
In conclusion, the PRB, after reviewing the complaints, decided (May 13) not to accept the complaint of a participating operator, a decision that was interpreted by Hyseni as opening the way to the realization of the promise (see here).
A week later, Hyseni announced the signing of the contract for the construction of the stadium and the start of works (see hereThe start of field work is also confirmed by the report “Identity Card of Municipalities” by the “Gap Institute” (see here).
Hibrid.info has found a video material published (September 15, 2025) on the official YouTube channel of "Kanal 10" television, which shows that works on the stadium are continuing, while Hyseni has stated that the works there will be completed next year (see here).
Local elections are held on October 12 of this year, while according to Law on Local Self-Government, the mayor is elected for a four-year term. Alban Hyseni took office as mayor of Gjilan on December 9, 2021 (see here).
In the explanations stated by Hyseni, it was stated that the project was found to have problems, while regarding the delays in its implementation, he stated that they were caused by complaints to the PRB of the operators who participated in the tender (see here).
Conclusion:
The Mayor of Gjilan, Alban Hyseni, had promised that he would complete the construction of the Gjilan city stadium within his first year as mayor.
But, it did not turn out that way and the works only began in 2025 and are still under development.
Therefore, based on the work methodology, hibrid.info evaluates the non-completion of this project as a "promise not kept".
Reasoning:
Fulfillment or keeping of promises is mainly related to pre-election promises, which are monitored at the central and local levels during the four-year mandate. This research is mainly conducted during the pre-election campaign, where the main political figures are monitored, in order to have a fact-check of what they say. Based on the promises made earlier, through the election program, Hibrid.info checks the statements of these politicians, to see if they have managed to keep those promises after the mandate. Hibrid.info plans to publish such reports on an annual basis.