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Former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj has spoken again from Switzerland, where he is now after leaving Albania. He gave an interview to journalist Vincent WJ van Gerven Oie.
He also touched on the government's ties to crime. Ahmetaj was not sparing with Edi Rama.
Arben Ahmetaj: In any normal economy in the world, domestic food and beverage production supplies the tourism sector and thus together with tourism the country's production base grows. But in Albania, tourism is mainly supplied by imports. You can easily see the statistics that show that the manufacturing sector is giving up. Moreover, Albania has started to lose even that small part of the manufacturing economy that was export-oriented. This means that tourism is only helping a small group of actors and is not being distributed to the entire population.
All of this empowers, as you said, criminal organizations within Albania. But it doesn't stop there. These organizations don't just launder money in construction. To do this, they need political access. You've talked about members of organized crime who are seen in the Prime Minister's offices, who receive state tenders, and whose money-laundering activities in construction are coordinated by him—he's the one who chooses the architects who do the projects, issues building permits, issues casino licenses, and so on. And in return, he's received many favors: charter flights, stays in detox hotels, tickets to basketball games in America—and these are just the tip of the iceberg. You've said that "after every affair you'll find his name" and you've predicted that "his legacy will be organized crime."
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