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Bills of cases that end up in international arbitration courts force addiction institutions or agencies to pay hefty bills for contracted defense firms or for circumstances that have nothing to do with them.
The latest audit reports of the High State Control near two institutions, namely the National Agency of Natural Resources and the air control operator Albcontrol show that at certain moments the latter have been put in financial difficulties precisely as a result of the state's involvement in international court battle.
The auditors of KLSH note that in the case of AKBN, salaries have not been paid for several months in a row due to the financial difficulty of this institution, which has requested that the invoices be paid by Albpetrol when it is unable to pay them itself.
For both cases, the amount reaches over 85 million euros, where the largest part of 85 million euros belongs to Albcontrol.
AKBN has no money for salaries, invoices are paid to Albpetrol
The report underlines that AKBN on 02.03.2022 paid the first invoice to the law firm H... L.... in the amount of 250,000 Euros. Taking into account the difficult financial situation in which the institution is located, AKBN turned to MIE (letter 618/14 dated 29.07.2022), regarding finding opportunities for making payments from Albpetrol sha. With letter no. 1101/12, dated 29.07.2022, MIE addressed the company Albpetrol sh.a for the realization of the request of AKBN regarding the payment of preliminary court expenses.
"This payment was made by Albpetrol sha on 02.08.2022 for ICC court costs in the amount of USD 150,000 in favor of AKBN. Also based on Normative Act No. 12 dated 01.12.2022, as well as MIE's letter addressed to Albpetrol sha with no. 23 15/3 prot. dated 12.12.2022, MIE made the payment to the law firm H.... L…. in the amount of 550,000 Euros, while Albpetrol sh a made the payment to two experts in the amount of 361,250 USD.
In the conditions of the urgent need to pay for the rental premises for the hearings according to the letter of the State Bar no. 44/3 dated 26.01.2023, in order to ensure the smooth running of the arbitration process, AKBN has made the payment of the tax part in the amount of 20,555 Euros on 27.01.2023" it is stated in the KLSH report.
The report does not give details about which of the arbitration cases these invoices are for, even though the government and its dependent agencies of ALBPETROL have been involved in the arbitration with Bankers Petroleum as well as another one with GBC Oil ltd or the former Stream Oil.
As a result of this financial difficulty of AKBN, the auditors have found that for several months in a row, employees' salaries have not been paid on time. "The audit showed that AKBN, being in difficult financial conditions, did not pay the employees for the months of November, December of 2023 and for the months of January and February of 2024 on time," the report states.
ALBCONTROL received debt from 5 institutions of around 84 million euros.
Albcontrol could not collect its money from the account at Eurocontrol for several years. Its accounts were held hostage as a result of the seizure due to the decision that the Arbitration gave in favor of the investor Francesco Becchetti.
Albcontrol itself expected its accounts to remain frozen until March 2025 until the amount required for the arbitration obligation was met. Meanwhile, in the conditions when it has to operate, the company has taken loans from several institutions in the country. The audit report of KLSH near Albcontrol revealed that there are about 84 million euros received through five agreements.
"During the year 2022, as well as during the year 2021, the company did not collect any income from the en route service and terminal charge as a result of a decision of the first instance court of Brussels, to freeze the accounts of Albcontrol sh.a. the Eurocontrol organization. In order to cope with the situation created by non-collection of income, Albcontrol sh.a has concluded 3 agreements for financial loans as follows:
1-The value of 5 million Euros, from the Port Authority of Durrës, through decision no. 5, dated 23.02.2022 and with Foreign Contract no. 686 Prot., dated 03.03.2022.
2-A value of 936,000,000 ALL, from the General Directorate of Road Transport Services, through decision no. 16 dated 17.08.2022 and with Foreign Contract no. 2178 Prot., dated 24.08.2022.
3-A value of 2,000,000,000 ALL, from the Civil Aviation Authority, through decision no. 24, dated 22.12.2022 and with Foreign Contract no. 3078 Prot., dated 27.12.2022.
4-A value of 2,000,000,000 ALL, from the Albanian Investment Corporation, through decision no. 24, dated 21.11.2023 and with Foreign Contract no. 2570 Prot., dated 24.11.2023.
5- Value of 3,000,000,000 ALL, from the Ministry of Finance and Economy with Foreign Contract no. 2857 Prot., dated 27.12.2023" says the audit report.
Arbitration liabilities amount to 181 million euros.
Over the years, the Albanian state has been involved in various arbitrations where in most cases the decisions have been against it, as well as there have been fewer cases but in favor.
Referring to the 2025 budget report, the Ministry of Finance reported that the remaining obligations from arbitrations until September 2024 were 71.6 million euros, while the contingent obligations related to decisions not yet completed in legal procedures were 109 million euros. In total, the liabilities are calculated at 181 million euros./Monitor/
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