Through a decision dated July 29, the Council of Ministers says it transferred 9,000 square meters of public land on the coast of Drimadha to a real estate fund to support strategic investments.
Përmes një vendimi të dytë më 7 shtator, qeveria miratoi dhënien me qira të kësaj sipërfaqeje për një tarifë simbolike prej 1 euro në favor të shoqërisë “White Roads Hotel” në pronësi të biznesmenit Lorenc Gjikuria. Toka publike do t’i shërbejë një projekti për ndërtimin e një hoteli dhe 150 vilave në fshatin Gjilekë të bashkisë së Himarës, i cili ka marrë tashmë statusin e investitorit strategjik.
Ky nuk është rasti i vetëm kur pronat publike u jepen pothuajse falas ose në këmbim të çmimeve shumë herë më të ulëta sesa ato të tregut biznesmenëve që kanë përfituar statusin e investitorit strategjik.
Por ndonëse ligji “Për Investimet Strategjike” përcakton ngritjen e një fondi për pasuri të tilla dhe bërjen e kësaj liste publike, Ministria e Financave dhe Ekonomisë tha se nuk e kishte një inventar të tillë.
Through a request for the right to information, the Ministry of Finance was asked for the list of public assets that have been given for strategic investments, their beneficiaries, as well as the total fund of assets under management "Real estate fund for the support of strategic investments."
The Ministry of Finance responded that "there is no structure that has the required information" through a letter signed by the General Secretary, Arlind Gjokuta.
The Ministry of Finance and Economy delegated the request for information about this fund to the Albanian Investment Development Agency, but the Agency denied legal responsibility, citing a December 2015 government VKM that charged the MFE with responsibility for the creation, inventory and administration of this fund. fund.
"The Ministry responsible for the Economy inventories the properties included in the FPPMIS, offers them to strategic investors and publishes them in order to inform, support and encourage the realization of strategic investments," says VKM.
Asked why this legal obligation had not been implemented, the Minister of Finance, Delina Ibrahimaj, did not respond until the publication of this article.
According to the economic expert, Zef Preçi, the government is favoring clientelism with public properties, using any legal loophole, bureaucratic tricks or through collegial decisions.
"I believe that the government is operating in the conditions of a legal vacuum, not so much by chance, but by decisions of a collegial nature," said Preçi, who heads the Center for Economic Research. According to him, the government approves these decisions on public properties with dubious announcements or without any announcements, far from legal provisions and taxpayers' expectations for transparency.
"If we see the wave of transfers almost in the form of gifts and clientelism, such as with the method of sale for 1 Euro, it is easily noticed that these transactions are made on the eve of electoral campaigns, completely without a competitive process," he said.
Preçi makes an analysis of the structures established by law for the management of public properties, which then did not function, or did not make their work transparent, such as the Investment Corporation or the Fund for strategic investments.
He emphasizes that legal "loopholes" serve to justify illegal actions.
"Gaps in the regulatory framework, non-fulfilment of secondary legislation... are a refined way of the bureaucracy to justify illegal actions, avoiding legal and criminal responsibility, as well as enabling clientelism and political favoritism with public funds and assets as well as rights exclusive to the state," concluded Preçi./Birn