Bedri Hamza (born 8 November 1963) is a politician and administrator in
Kosovo
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
. He has been the Republic of Kosovo's
finance minister
A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position .
A ministry of finance's portfoli ...
on two occasions, served three terms in the
Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo
The Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Скупштина Републике Косово, Skupština Republike Kosovo) or the Kuvendi, is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Kosovo that is directly elected by the peo ...
, was governor of the
Central Bank of Kosovo
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
from 2013 to 2017, and is the current
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
South Mitrovica. Hamza is a prominent member of the
Democratic Party of Kosovo
The Democratic Party of Kosovo (, PDK) is one of the largest political parties in Kosovo. It was originally a social-democratic party coming out of the demilitarised Kosovo Liberation Army after the Kosovo War, with most of the leadership c ...
(PDK).
Early life and career
Hamza was born to a
Kosovo Albanian family in the village of Klina e Epërme in the municipality of
Skenderaj
Skenderaj ( sq-definite, Skënderaji) or Srbica ( sr-Cyrl, Србица) is a List of cities in Kosovo, town and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality located in the District of Mitrovica, Mitrovica District of Kosovo. According to the 2021 cens ...
, in what was then the
Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija
The Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija (APKM) (; ), commonly known as Kosovo (; ) and abbreviated to Kosmet (from ''Kosovo (region), Kosovo'' and ''Metohija, Metohija''; ) or KiM (), is an autonomous province that occupies the souther ...
in the
Socialist Republic of Serbia
The Socialist Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Социјалистичка Република Србија, Socijalistička Republika Srbija), previously known as the People's Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / " ...
,
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
. He graduated from the historical
University of Pristina
The University of Pristina () is a public university located in Pristina, Kosovo. It is the institution that emerged after the disestablishment of the University of Pristina (1969–1999) as a result of the Kosovo War. The inauguration ...
's Faculty of Economics in 1987 and later received a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
from the
post-1999 institution of the same name on the topic, "Problems of improving the fiscal system of the Republic of Kosovo." He has taken doctoral studies at the
University of Tirana
The University of Tirana (, abbreviated UT) is a public university located at the central borough of Tirana 10 in Tirana, Albania. It was established as the State University of Tirana (SUT) in 1957 through merging of five existing institutes ...
in
Albania
Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
.
Hamza was head of accounting and finance at ''
Trepča'' Lead Metallurgy in Mitrovica from 1987 to 1990. He worked in the private sector from 1990 to 1998 and led the Mitrovica municipal assembly's directorate of public services from 2000 to 2003.
Politician and administrator
Hamza was a candidate on the PDK's
electoral list
An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...
for Mitrovica in the
2002 Kosovan local elections. Online sources do not indicate if he served in the local assembly afterward.
He appeared in the eighty-first position on the PDK's list in the
2004 Kosovan parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Kosovo on 24 October 2004 during the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, United Nations Interim Administration. The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) remained the largest party, winning ...
, which was held under
closed list
Closed list describes the variant of party-list systems where voters can effectively vote for only political parties as a whole; thus they have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters had some in ...
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...
, and was not elected when the list won thirty seats. The PDK was in
opposition from 2004 to 2008, and Hamza served on the party's
shadow cabinet with responsibility for finance and economy. In 2006, he was a member of Kosovo's delegation to
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
for discussions with the
Republic of Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
on economic issues.
Deputy minister (2008–11)
All parliamentary elections in Kosovo since 2007 have been held under
open list
Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a Political party, party's candidates are elected. This is as opposed to closed list, in which party lists ...
proportional representation. Hamza was given the fifty-fifth position on the PDK's list in the
2007 parliamentary election and finished in fortieth place among the party's candidates. The list won thirty-seven mandates, and he was not elected. Due to a requirement that one-third of seats be reserved for female candidates, he was also not immediately in line for a replacement mandate.
The PDK and the rival
Democratic League of Kosovo
The Democratic League of Kosovo (, LDK) is the oldest and one of the largest list of political parties in Kosovo, political parties in Kosovo.
History
During the late 1980s, nationalism was on the rise throughout the Socialist Federal Republi ...
(LDK) formed a
coalition government
A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...
after the 2007 election. In January 2008, Hamza was appointed as Kosovo's deputy minister of economy and finance. In June of the same year, he and Albanian economy, trade, and energy minister
Genc Ruli
Genc Ruli (born April 11, 1958) is an Albanian academic, a founding member of the Albanian Democratic Party announced an agreement on cooperation for
electrical power
Electric power is the rate of transfer of electrical energy within a electric circuit, circuit. Its SI unit is the watt, the general unit of power (physics), power, defined as one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with oth ...
. Later in 2008, Hamza announced that Kosovo's government would not allow its borders to operate on
(UNMIK) regulations.
Hamza said in a 2009 interview that investment in energy, roads, and private sector were necessary strategic steps to boost economic growth in Kosovo. He added that years of high growth would be needed to address issues of endemic poverty, saying, "To reduce poverty and unemployment we need to have economic growth of more than eight percent for the next six or seven years."
He had the opportunity to enter the Kosovo assembly in March 2010 but instead continued to serve as a deputy minister. He would not have been able to hold both positions simultaneously under a
dual mandate
A dual mandate occurs when an official serves in or holds multiple public positions simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain, double-dipping in the United States, and ''cumul des mandats'' in France. Thus, if ...
.
Finance minister (first time: 2011–13)
The PDK–LDK coalition fell apart in late 2010, and
a new parliamentary election was held in December of that year. Hamza was again included on the PDK's electoral list and this time finished in eleventh place among its candidates. The PDK won thirty-four seats, and he was elected to the assembly. His first term as a legislator as brief; the PDK formed government after the election, and Hamza was appointed as Kosovo's finance minister on the day the assembly convened.
As minister, Hamza pursued a privatization strategy for
Kosovo Telecom
Telecom of Kosovo (), trading as Vala, is a business unit of Post and Telecom of Kosovo. Telecom of Kosovo is a licensed public operator and the first choice provider of fixed network services and internet in the territory of Kosovo. At the en ...
. In April 2011, he signed an agreement with
Zoran Stavreski
Zoran Stavreski (born 29 October 1964 in Ohrid) is a Macedonian politician and formerly Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Finance.
Education
Graduated from the Faculty of Economics of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje in 1987. ...
, the finance minister for the
Republic of Macedonia
North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...
(now North Macedonia), on double taxation avoidance and protection from tax evasion. The following year, he signed an agreement with
Turkish finance minister
A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position .
A ministry of finance's portfoli ...
Mehmet Şimşek
Mehmet Şimşek (born 1 January 1967) is a Turkish politician and economist, who has been serving as the List of Finance Ministers of Turkey, Minister of Treasury and Finance since 4 June 2023. He was the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey from 24 ...
to collaborate on mutual tax relations.
Governor of the Central Bank of Kosovo (2013–17)
Hamza was appointed as governor of the Central Bank of Kosovo on 14 March 2013. His appointment was controversial. Opposition parties argued that the bank's autonomy would be compromised with a leading PDK figure as its governor, and
Ismet Beqiri of the LDK charged that it would become a private bank of the PDK and government. This notwithstanding, Hamza served in the role for the next four and a half years.
Finance minister (second time: 2017–20)
Hamza resigned as governor of the central bank on 13 September 2017 to return to the office of finance minister. In February 2018, he helped to facilitate a
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
grant of 38.5 million
Euro
The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
s for the upgrade of Kosovo's
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
system.
In 2018, the Republic of Kosovo introduced a punitive one hundred per cent tariff on goods from
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
, as a means of pressuring Serbia for a comprehensive deal that would include recognition of Kosovo as an independent country. In January 2019, Hamza said that Serbia's revenues had fallen by eighty million Euros as a result of the tariff and that the Republic of Kosovo was working to prevent what it described as smuggling from Serbia.
Parliamentarian (2019–2021)
Hamza received the eighth position on the PDK's list in the
2019 Kosovan parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Kosovo on 6 October 2019. The main opposition parties received the most votes, led by Vetëvendosje and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK). Vetëvendosje leader Albin Kurti became Prime Minister, forming ...
, finished in sixth place among the party's candidates, and was elected to a second term in the assembly when the list won twenty-four seats. The PDK served in
opposition in the parliament that followed. In his second term, Hamza was head of the PDK's parliamentary group, the chair of the public finance oversight committee, and a member of the committee on budget and transfers.
He was promoted to the fourth position on the PDK list in the
2021 parliamentary election, finished in third place, and was re-elected when the list won nineteen seats. The party continued to serve in opposition. Hamza became a deputy
speaker of the assembly in 2021.
Mayor of South Mitrovica (2021–present)
Hamza was elected as mayor of South Mitrovica in the
2021 Kosovan local elections, defeating incumbent Agim Bahtiri of
Vetëvendosje
Vetëvendosje (, , LVV or VV) is a Left-wing politics, left-leaning Democratic socialism, democratic socialist List of political parties in Kosovo, political party in Kosovo. It is a member of the Progressive Alliance, and an observer in the Par ...
in the first round of voting. By virtue of having won this position, he resigned from parliament on 1 November 2021.
One of Hamza's main promises in the 2021 local election was construction of the proposed "Ali Zeneli" road. The project was formally launched in August 2023, notwithstanding that it was not supported by the Republic of Kosovo government.
2025 Parliamentary Election
In the 2025 Kosovo parliamentary elections, Bedri Hamza ran with the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK). The election resulted in Vetëvendosje securing the largest share of the vote with approximately 40%, while PDK received around 21% of the vote.
[https://shqiptarja.com/lajm/demokracia-ne-veprim-publikon-rezultatet-paraprake-nga-98-e-vendvotimeve-kurti-kryeson-me-40-te-votave-pdk-e-dyta-ldk-e-treta]
Electoral record
Local (South Mitrovica)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamza, Bedri
1963 births
Living people
Kosovo Albanians
People from Skenderaj
Politicians from Mitrovica, Kosovo
Finance ministers of Kosovo
Members of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo
Mayors of South Mitrovica
Democratic Party of Kosovo politicians