Author: Denis Tahiri
For almost ten years, billions of ALL have 'evaporated' from the state budget. From the period 2012-2021, the value of damage in the budget reaches the value of 805 billion ALL. In other words, as much as the two-year budget of the Albanian state.
The reasons for this economic damage are many, among which report published by Transparency International, a global anti-corruption organization states that: "State capture in Albania has increased significantly between 2008 and 2019. High-level corruption continues to be fueled by the privatization of public property and Services. This is made possible by insufficient institutional mechanisms of control and balance of powers, as well as by the politicization of public administration. These factors are supported by a corrupt judiciary that ensures impunity for the perpetrators of crimes."
Meanwhile, the report further states that the last decade has witnessed a strengthening of cooperation between politics, business and organized crime, which has reached its peak in recent years.
""Government contracts for selected businesses and related to prominent public officials have led to mismanagement of public assets, loss of life and increased financial debts that burden Albanian taxpayers." it is stated in this report emphasizing that the cooperation between political parties, public officials and organized crime groups for buying votes in local and general elections in exchange for the use of public institutions for private interests has seriously damaged the interests of citizens.
Only from these two paragraphs of this report can it be clearly understood that the economic damages caused to the state are of a high level.
Where did the money go?
In the total calculated according to the reports carried out by the High State Control, the economic damage caused to the Albanian state from 2012-2021 amounts to 7.2 billion euros, equivalent to 805 billion ALL. This figure is neither more nor less than the monetary amount that constitutes two annual budgets of the Albanian state. According to KLSH, there are two sectors that have caused the greatest economic damage to the state. PPP concessions (public-private partnership) and further procurement and management of state property.
In the documents of KLSH, there is a record of anomalies and violations in concession contracts. "It has been established that the payments for these contracts exceed the level approved in the financial model, changing their financing even in difficult periods for the state budget". it is said in one of the documents. Also, KLSH points out the fact that regular monitoring of concession contracts has not been carried out and payments for unfinished Services such as basic population control and dialysis service have continued, bringing economic damage to the state. Meanwhile, in the monitoring of the "FOL" Center, for the Special Prosecutor's Office, based in Tirana, it is said that in addition to the reports of the KLSH, the reports of citizens and civil society also occupy an important place, mostly in the field of procurement.
The problems of concessions, especially in the field of health, have also become part of the report published at the end of 2022 by the organization "Together for life" in which it is stated that these concessions are classified as high risk for corrupt concessionary practices and have become a financial burden on the Health Insurance Fund. According to the report, the Health Insurance Fund has financed these concessions for dialysis and sterilization Services for three years, where most of these Services are provided in 5 university hospitals, but they have not been able to monitor the implementation of the contracts. "Payments have been made even though the service has not been provided",the report states.
Among other things, the report states that the Directorate of Administration for Health Packages and Tertiary Examinations, which finances these Services, admits that there is no structure for the control of concessionary expenses. "The only institutional structure is the Contracting and Monitoring sector, which has four employees, among whom only one is a specialized doctor who performs field inspections for dialysis Services, while there is no control for the medical equipment sterilization concession. the report states, among other things.
Reports without investigations
From 2012 to 2021, the Supreme State Audit has filed 357 criminal reports with the judicial bodies, which translates into a number of people of 1071, but what is obvious is the fact that the number of people who came out before justice is very small.
Meanwhile, for the past year, in the Tirana Prosecutor's Office, which is also one of the largest prosecutor's offices in the country, only 3 reports have been filed. Officially, this prosecutor says for the Albanian Center for Quality Journalism that: "From the verifications carried out in the index of criminal reports and the statistics of proceedings, it turns out that 3 criminal reports referred by KLSH have been registered. Of these three reports, for one it was decided not to initiate criminal proceedings and the other 2 were registered as criminal proceedings and are in the phase of preliminary investigations".
The Albanian Center for Quality Journalism addressed a request to the Special Prosecution Office against Corruption for data on how many criminal reports filed by the High State Control have been registered from 2019 onwards, in response to which SPAK informed that: "On the basis of the incriminating materials received from the High State Control, a total of 7 criminal reports were registered in the Special Prosecutor's Office, for which after the verifications, 7 criminal proceedings were registered, which are in the investigation phase".
On the other hand, sources inform "Sinjalizo" that all seven criminal proceedings have been registered and are in the investigation phase, but there are no concrete names in any of them.
Experts: Gagrena and ongoing problems that cannot be solved
And while the economic damage caused to the state is progressive, economic experts say that it is necessary to look at the methodology of the Supreme State Control.
"Does he calculate them correctly, does he report with the correct KLSH methodology? Non-realization of income is reported as economic damage, is it economic damage or not, this issue deserves attention. From this point of view, that figure of 7.2 billion euros leaves room for discussion to talk about economic damage, waste, etc. says professor Selami Xhepa. The other economic expert, Zef Preçi, is of the same opinion, who says that the methodology followed by KLSH should be looked at, as the amount of economic damage based on it may be subject to discussion.
Experts say that what needs to be seen is the legality of procedures made with public money.
"All the problems that the HC has found to be illegal in my judgment is a serious and serious problem, related to corruption, to the issue of the efficiency of the use of citizens' taxes, which unfortunately has never found a solution". says Professor Xhepa, who adds that this is something that must be followed very seriously by the responsible institutions.
Meanwhile, regarding public procurement and concession contracts, Mr. Preci says that in the procedures that are followed, in the criteria that are set, there are voluntary violations, but there are also violations due to incompetence. "From the way our administration is built, it must be said that voluntary interventions are dominant, i.e. abuses of office for benefits", he says, adding that mistakes due to incompetence can be made in a local institution where commissions due to lack of knowledge of the field, lack of legal knowledge and experience can make mistakes, but not in cases of public procedures where hundreds of millions are involved euros.
"It must be said that in the multitude of violations, the greatest weight in the reports of the KLSH are those decision-making which are generally collegial, which gives a protective layer not only to the decision makers, but also guarantees the visible and invisible beneficiaries of the contracts of this nature", he adds.
