Author: Dallandyshe Xhaferri
On the eve of the end-of-year holidays, "Sinjalizo" monitored the expenses of five municipalities in the country, regarding decorations and the purchase of the Christmas tree. From year to year it turns out that Korça, Tirana, Elbasan, Belshi and Mallakastra opened their wallets to light up even during the earthquake, when three cities of neighboring countries in solidarity with Albania offered financial support from their funds. On the other hand, the tenders have been marked with a red flag because some of them were won without competition.
"For the past year, Korçë Municipality has spent 5,ë8ë,ë00 lek on the decoration of the city for the end of the year holidays, otherwise about 50 million old lek"- says this institution in the official response. According to the local government, the budget of this institution has reached the value of 1,942,685,590 ALL.
"For the year 2022, Korçë Municipality is spending 4,695,600 ALL for decoration",- said in the written response to "Signalizo", while during the research in Open Procurement it turned out that on November 17 of this year, this municipality opened the competition for the tender with a limited fund amounting to ALL 1 only for the decorative Christmas tree. This tender with a red flag was won without competition by the economic operator "Selvije Abasllari" with the value of 110 ALL.
Also, also tender for holiday decorations, opened by this municipality on November 15 of this year, was won without competition by the same economic operator. Its limit fund amounts to 2,916,580 ALL, while the only competing company won it ten days after the announcement with the offer of 2 ALL.
"Sinjalizo" noticed during the research that even in 2021, for the same tender, the competition of competing companies was absent. Tenders but with the same fund limit, it was won by the economic operator "Iceberg Communication" sh.pk with the competitive offer of 2 ALL.
Elbasan municipality, tender for spruce after the earthquake
According to public data in Open Procurement, in 2019 the Elbasan Municipality opened the tender with a limited fund of up to 1 ALL for the beautification of the city during the end of the year. Only two companies participated in the competition, while "DIXHI PRINT-AL" was declared the winner for the offer worth 400 ALL. This tender was opened by the Elbasan Municipality after the earthquake of November 614, while that year the municipalities of Tetova, Mitrovica and Prizren did not invest in the decoration of the cities so that the estimated monetary values would help as donations to the inhabitants affected by the earthquake in Albania.
Two years later, in 2021, Elbasan Municipality did not invest in the decoration of the city, according to the official written answer that this municipality gave to "Sinjalizo". "He spent only 178 ALL for the maintenance of the amortized parts of the decor materials.",- says in an answer to "Signalizo". In Open Procurement, it appears that on November 22 of last year, this municipality opened the tender for the maintenance of the decorations, which was won by "IL-AD Company" after the offer of 147,700 ALL. The tender does not specify the number of operators who participated in the competition, while the information is made public that there were no complaints after the announcement of the winner.
"This year, the Elbasan Municipality foresees the investment of 520,000 lek for the maintenance of the year-end decorations in the city, but it has not yet been realized",- it is said at the moment of receiving the answer.
Municipality of Tirana
For almost six years, the Municipality of Tirana has been opening a tender of approximately ë0 million old lek every year to donate the fireworks spectacle during the New Year's Eve. According to public data in Open Procurement, for 5 years in a row, only the economic operator "Alba Fire" sh.pk has been declared the winner of the tender, while in 2021 this company competed alone, winning the tender with the offer of 2,900,000 ALL.
Also, in November of this year, Tirana Municipality opened the tender for materials in the lighting network. According to the data made public, the 12th of this month was the deadline for the companies to be part of the competition, at the same time, Monday was also the day of holding the tender. Until the moment of the realization of this article in Open Procurement neither the winning company nor the companies that have become part of the competition have been made public. The limit fund of this tender goes up to 60,758,600 new ALL. But the procedure is specified as open above the monetary level.
Through a written response, the Municipality of Tirana has informed "Sinjalizo" that "the total fund allocated for the decoration service of the city of Tirana" includes the implementation of annual events based on VKM 420/2016 'For the approval of the state ceremonial of the Republic of Albania'. This fund is included in the realization of 7 annual events for 2021, when the municipality's budget was 2 ALL. Meanwhile, 272,148,855 annual events have been held for 42 according to the approved calendar.
Belsh Municipality, new 3,490,000 ALL for decorative trees in 2022
The municipality of Belsh announced through the response to the request for information from "Sinjalizo" that for this year, 622 new ALL are expected to be spent on the decoration of the city. Meanwhile, in Open Procurement reflects the tender opened by the Belsh Municipality for decorative trees in 2022. The limit fund of this tender was up to 490,000 new lek, while there was no competition in the competition for the announcement of the winner. The only company participating in the competition was "AGRO-KORANI", which won the tender with the offered amount of 2 new alleks.
Also, this municipality has announced that last year 696,000 new ALL were spent on beautifying the city at the end of the year, while on December 24 of last year, the municipality opened the tender for the New Year fireworks. The competing companies had only one day to submit the competitive documentation for the tender with the value of 60 ALL. this tend was won by the economic operator "Tufik Kurti", meanwhile it is not known how many operators have taken part in the competition, for the success of which no complaints have been registered.
Mallakastër municipality
The municipality of Mallakastër is one of the smallest in the country with a population of 27.062 inhabitants, according to the 2011 census. According to the document provided by this municipality through a request for information, its budget in 2021 was up to 969,021,450 ALL, meanwhile the tender for the purchase of decorations for the holidays went to the value of ë,0ë0,019.7ë lek.
Contrary to what appears in the overview of tenders financed by the municipality, in public records in Open Procurement it turns out that this tender was not won by any company and the process was cancelled. The explanation given for the cancellation of the tender is the non-submission of any suitable offer.
Earlier, in 2018, for the tender with a limited fund of 2,447,500.00 ALL, only two companies competed, among which the operator with the offer of 2 ALL was declared the winner.
Not only expensive trees, but also energy costs
Since September of this year, the Minister of Infrastructure and Energy informed the citizens about having a complete package for dealing with the energy crisis in the country. Part of this package was the decision of the Energy Regulatory Entity (ERE) in Albania, which predicted the price increase for the band above 800 KWH to 42 ALL/KWH for consumers who exceeded the limit of using 800 KWH of electricity per month .
Although this ban has not yet come into force as it was announced in October, on the minister's personal profile on the social network in Facebook there have been occasional publications of sensitization videos about saving electricity.
Asked by "Sinjalizo", the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy announced that during the last three years at the end of the year in the country, the consumption of electricity in the country has increased by 10%.
"The average daily consumption for the dates 1-20 December during the last years has been about 20.000 MWH. While for the dates of December 21-1, the consumption goes to about 22.000 with a maximum increase to 25.000 MWH. So, the total consumption increases by 10%" - is said in the answer, while it is emphasized that the electricity used for the lighting of the squares is financially covered by the municipalities.
"The Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy has already proposed the normative act for reducing consumption during the state of emergency in supply, which has established some mandatory measures for reducing consumption", the written response continues, while it is underlined that this measure includes the interruption of intercity road lighting and the 15% reduction of consumption in the buildings of public institutions.
