FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
In 2024, 135 billion lek (1.3 billion euro) are scheduled to be invested, the highest historical level since 1990, but in the first two months of this year, only 0.9 billion lek (8.8 million euro) have been disbursed ) which constitute only 0.6% of the annual budget.
Lawyers at public entities claimed that SPAK's recent arrests at senior management levels have increased fear among current officials, who are not signing off as readily as before.
Daily data from the treasury show that the main payments are for salaries, pensions and local government, while the largest payments have been made so far to the Llogora tunnel and major investments in road infrastructure.
But in the meantime tenders with average and smaller values, which seem to be even more manipulable, are not being developed. Over the years, a narrow group of companies has been created that receive tenders in certain sectors of the administration.
However, the disposal of the firm has become more difficult, leaving many public sectors in operational difficulties.
In the annual report for 2023, SPAK evidenced that corruption in the public administration is quite widespread in PPP procurements and concessions.
The scheme of laundering corruption money, according to the SPAK report, is quite complex, since in the case of the violation of the equality of public tenders, its purpose is not only to create a fictitious scheme among high public officials to hide corrupt acts, but, above all, it also serves as a scheme for cleaning the proceeds of criminal offences.
According to SPAK, the public functionary first agrees with different legal entities, which will be included in the scheme to realize the formal side and to benefit from public funds contrary to the law.
Then, these funds are transferred in the form of payments to commercial companies, which are related to the high public functionary and other persons involved in this corrupt scheme.
These funds, from the accounts of the companies, are then transferred to other accounts inside and outside the country, being invested in movable or immovable assets.
The tendency is for the presentation of the money laundering scheme to be organized in such a way that the multitude of legal actions and financial transactions carried out by the legal entities benefiting from these funds appear to be legal actions.
These financial actions are fragmented into dozens of transactions in the form of payments to companies, which are subcontracted to perform various works according to their specialty.
"In fact, in some cases, subcontracted companies are part of the same scheme and are controlled by the same individuals who organized this corrupt scheme. The subcontracting companies are founded and managed by persons who are relatives or trusted persons of those who run these corrupt schemes", announced SPAK.
After the funds go to the subcontracting companies, they are transferred abroad or invested in other assets under fictitious names, but which are used by corrupt officials or their relatives.
Mainly, as an intermediary is another public functionary, who has data on the criteria of the open public fund.
The latter mediates with the winning legal entity of the public tender. All persons involved as intermediaries act first, to cover up the true nature of the illegal action, and second, for material gain, but also benefit in the form of granting illegal access to other public funds.
KLSH finds a "mountain" of problems in public investments
In 2022, the investment of the Infectious Pediatrics building at QSUT was completed, in the amount of 26 million ALL, but the High State Control, which has verified the project, has stated that the solution to the sustainability of the high-risk building in the event of an earthquake has not been achieved .
Also in another tender, the KLSH found that the development of the procurement procedure was done through negotiation without prior announcement of the contract notice with the object "Maintenance of medical equipment to meet extreme needs.
In all procurement procedures for the audited period, for the maintenance of medical equipment, the purchase of medical equipment and drugs, the favorable qualification criterion has been established: authorization from the manufacturer.
The Supreme State Audit informed the Assembly through the 2023 annual report that in the budget planning process, the deadlines for the preparation and issuing of by-laws related to the public expenditure management calendar are not respected.
In 2022, 29 cases were found, where the 2-3-year investment projects approved for the Medium-Term Budget Project (PBA) 2021-2023, are not reflected in the PBA 2022-2024, or are reflected with significantly lower values, in order to preserve approved ceilings and the allocation of funds for new projects.
16 cases were found, where investment projects are first approved in PBA 2021-2023, as new projects of low value and then increased in PBA 2022-2024 with significant value.
According to the SSC, the budget was changed by normative acts before July, in the absence of the basic and accompanying documentation, which is required by the Organic Budget Law, as in the case of the annual draft budget, as well as without respecting the relevant deadlines.
Also, KLSH notes that during the reporting and monitoring of the budget: problems were found in the execution of current expenses, according to the codes of the budget products, differences between the objectives of the budget products.
Problems have been identified in the detailing of public investment projects by normative act. "Investment projects with the description 'Frozen Fund' are identified, details of funds without a specific project in the initial opening" says KLSH.
Also, in recent years, there is a low trend in the value of capital investments made with foreign sources of financing, highlighting the lack of an active role of the Ministry of Finance and public institutions benefiting from these financings, as well as the lack of an analysis deeper into the implementation of projects, to determine where and if improvements can be made, especially in relation to their implementation and monitoring.
The concentration of investment payments increases in December, indicating mismanagement
The country's public finances have suffered from the concentration of investment payments at the end of the year, but this trend in recent years has been further strengthened after 2014 (see chart: total annual plan for capital investments, annual fund and realizations by December) .
For example, in 2001, the amount of public investments in total was 43 billion ALL, where about 20% of them were paid in December. During the years 2005-2008 there was a high concentration of public investments in December, which reached from 40-50% of the total investment funds.
This trend calmed down after the completion of the works on the National Road from 2008-2012, but started the upward trend after 2014 and especially after the pandemic, in 2020.
The Albanian government is taking out a World Bank loan of about 87 million euros for the "Development of Public Finances", which was intended to increase the effectiveness of budget management in the field of the budget, but the issue of investments remains a hot point that seems to have worsened further.
Official data refer that in 2014, about 28% of the public investment fund was allocated in December, from 12% that was this indicator in 2013.
Nearly a quarter of public investment was released during December between 2015-2020, but in 2022 about 43% of investment funds were allocated in December and in 2023, nearly 38% of funds were concentrated in December. This trend seems to be the same this year as well, since in the first two months of 2024, capital investment funds from domestic funds were almost zero.
The High State Control informed the Assembly of Albania these days that the investments with internal sources of financing are realized mainly in the months of November and December, affecting their performance.
"Problems have been found in the detailing of public investment projects with a normative act, without passing to the PBA 2022-2024, as well as the reduction of investment funds at the time of the conclusion of the contract and the reallocation of these funds to other public investment projects with obligations backlogged, or in process from previous years", - notes the High State Control./ Monitor
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