FLASH
Shkruar nga Arben Malaj
Why did the Prime Minister remember Bankers now?
The Prime Minister, after many shocking failures in public sector mismanagement, including natural resource concession contracts, would do well to speak as little publicly as possible and act as quickly and legally as strongly as possible to prevent such scandals.
This statement by the Prime Minister is proof of the government's failure and responsibilities. This is because:
(i) Bardha of Saranda is required to provide a VAT invoice for the oregano collected in the mountains;
(ii) Every Albanian, the Municipality of Tirana and the taxes block their bank accounts and put them in a liquidity crisis for even 2,000 lek in debts, even when the amounts in the account are dozens of times greater than the unpaid debts;
(iii) What about Bankers, who according to the Prime Minister owes the state budget 240 million euros, why haven't his accounts been blocked for these liabilities worth millions of euros?
(iv) Why didn't the tax authorities freeze the accounts of every company in the Ballsh refinery, the blackest and most criminal pit in the public sector after the 1990s, when the concession managers, confirmed by the relevant structures, abusively benefited from millions of euros in salaries, per diems and bonuses, while the refinery employees lost years without social security?
The Prime Minister cannot try to justify every failure with heavy costs for Albanian taxpayers. Because, due to incompetence or even corruption, the institutions that are legally responsible for preventing any theft and non-payment of taxes, instead of stopping the deepening of the "black holes" in the budget, have further deepened them.
Who has prevented the responsible administration from applying bankruptcy procedures to any company with unpaid tax debts?
Why are even the anti-corruption structures that depend directly on the Prime Minister so unsuccessful?
The administrative and criminal responsibilities of the relevant structures include, at a minimum:
(1) The National Agency for Natural Resources (AKBN), responsible for the professional monitoring of any contract with companies that extract and/or process natural resources;
(2) Public partner companies, which benefit from part of the income as royalties;
(3) National and local tax authorities;
(4) The Supreme State Audit Office (SSA).
The Prime Minister cannot make media statements when the first ones to fail are under his command.
The case of Bankers and Ballsh, if there are 240 million euros in debt and they continue to operate in violation of the law and in unequal treatment with ordinary taxpayers, is no longer just a matter of governmental incompetence, but clear evidence of corruption and state capture.
A piece of advice: Government officials should be extremely careful and professionally accurate in any statements made to concession companies or foreign investors, because the latter have specialized experts to win any legal proceedings against the state.
Just for an irresponsible statement by DP ministers, Albanian taxpayers paid a $21 million fine to GE for the Tirana-Rinas-Durrës electric train.
Just for the irresponsible statements and actions of Edi Rama's ministers towards TV Agon, innocent Albanians are paying around 140 million euros. A heavy burden on the shoulders of citizens who have no connection to the abuses.
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