Debate and Policy Paper on “Financial Control of State-Owned Corporates” (Standards, Chapter 32 of EU Integration)
The organization AIS, promoter of Open Data Albania, organized on May 31st, a Debate and Presentation of a Policy Paper on the topic of Financial Control of State-Owned Corporates (SOC – State Owned Corporates).
Financial Control, as in chapter 32, part of Cluster 1, in the process of fulfilling the conditions and standards for Integration.
State Owned Enterprises or Companies are a risky sector in terms of management and control of finances and assets. The Integration Process targets efforts and models which in the SOC sector are far from meritocracy management, effective performance, sound financial management and multi-level auditing.
The Policy Paper, drafted by AIS, was presented by the expert Professor Dr. Lindita Milo (Lati). The document analyzes the situation in the country and presents findings and recommendations for progress. This document was formulated as part of the C1-EU-NPA project, supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tirana.
The complete document in Albanian and English.
Three expert panelists ellaborated and emphasized aspects of the sector, problems and the need for better standards and policies in management and auditing. Specifically:
Prof. Assoc. Dr. Ira GJIKA presented the Findings and Recommendations on Enterprise Management and Auditing
CFA. Irena BEQIRAJ The former Deputy Minister of Finances, presented some typical cases of poor SOC management, issues coming from party influences and the lack of meritocracy at the management level.
Prof. Assoc. Dr. Mateo SPAHO presented the EU models and standards of Financial Control over State Owned Companies, highlighting a far-from-positive situation in the Albanian context and the need for reform, independence and management through administrators with the proper skills and integrity.
At this event, the DataSet with dynamic passports for State Owned Corporates was also presented, a dataset incorporated in the Open Corporates Albania web database. The Director of AIS/Open Data Albania, Ms. Aranita BRAHAJ, explained the importance of information and transparency on the management, performance, legal issues and use of assets of important public companies. With a view to making these companies as transparent as possible, AIS has applied the Open Corporates Albania Open Business Register model. In this database, the information comes for each Company in a well-structured version applying OpenData and LinkData standards. The database for State Owned Companies is the result of the implementation of the project entitled Open Data Access and Transparency over sector exposed to Risk of Corruption, a project supported by Sida, the Sweden International Development Cooperation Agency (March 2021 – February 2024). The purpose of the project itself is to Promote Transparency and Inform the Public through Open Data.
The event was attended by representatives from Institutions Engaged in Financial Control and Auditing of the State Owned Companies Sector, such as
- Ministry of Finances
- High State Audit
- Representatives from the Embassies of European countries
- Representative of EU Delegation in Tirana
- Academic representatives from Universities
- ThinkTank Organizations
- Media representatives
- Members of the OpenData Fellowship Youth Network
Findings, Opinions or Recommendations Expressed in this document and in the organized event represent the views of the experts and the AIS organization, and do not necessarily correspond with those of the project partners or supporters.
