TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
AIS Newsletter May 2021
Denouncement made to the State Election Commissioner over the Reconstruction Fund being used in Durrës for favoring Electoral SubjectAIS against Tirana Municipality. Lack of transparency over Beneficiaries of the Reconstruction Fund during the Electoral Campaign State Budget allocates 81 billion lek to concessions for 2018 – 2023. Register of Concessions.
Denouncement made to the State Election Commissioner over the Reconstruction Fund being used in Durrës for favoring Electoral Subject
AIS reported to the Election Commissioner on Misuse of Public Money during Elections through Individual Grants from the Reconstruction Fund in the electoral zone of Durrës following the November 2019 earthquake . Such misuse went in favour of the party in power at the central and local level, running in these elections. Sixteen months after the earthquake, Unconditional Transfers were allocated to Durrës municipality during the Electoral Campaign through a Decisions of the Council of Ministers, without a law, in the amount of 946.44 million Lek. Again, on electoral dates, the local government in Durrës has approved the lists of new beneficiaries, not previously identified. The week before the 25th of April , the Municipality has paid three times more money than on every other month after the earthquake. The Reconstruction Ministry has delayed the benefits for 16 months after the earthquake and has not undertaken any legal action to guarantee that the Fund is not misused by paying individuals not eligible for the economic benefit, whose affected property is luxurious or a secondary house, i.e. wealthy properties. The Commissioner is asked to undertake an administrative investigation, check facts, and use independent international expertise over the use of public funds in Electoral Campaign. Finally, the Commissioner is asked to assess the responsibilities for Electoral Favouring through Misuse of Public Money (Article 92/5 of the Code).
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AIS against Tirana Municipality. Lack of transparency over Beneficiaries of the Reconstruction Fund during the Electoral Campaign
The Non-Governmental Organization AIS / Open Data Albania has addressed the Commissioner for the Right to Information through a Complaint against Tirana Municipality. The complaint against this municipality comes after its refusal to publish the decisions of the Municipality Council on the List of Grant Beneficiaries from the Reconstruction Fund during the 2021 Electoral Campaign. AIS addressed the Municipality on 6 May 2021 through a Request for Access to Documents. On 18 May, the Coordinator for Information at the Municipality of Tirana has refused to meet such request, claiming that these decisions of the Municipality Council contain personal data. AIS, promoter of Transparency and Accountability, considers the refusal of the Municipality of Tirana as a refusal not based on law, hinders accountability and transparency for public expenditures, i.e. taxpayers’ money. Such information is related with the need to verify potential cases of misuse of public money in electoral campaigns for electoral favors.
State Budget allocates 81 billion lek to concessions for 2018 – 2023. Register of Concessions.
Open Data Albania is looking into the state budget costs for Private Public Partnership concessions (PPP) covered by public funds for the period 2018-2023. The article identifies the annual planned payments, and provides an overview of the progress made through the years by concessionary companies. The total cost of the State Budget, covering the planned payments for PPP concession over the last six years, is planned at the amount of 81.83 billion Leks or 662.07 million Euro. Over the 2018-2023 time span , there are in total 15 PPP concessionary contracts with budget support. The Concessionary Register prepared by the AIS organization; promotor of Open Data for Albania; presents well-structured data and documents for all concessionary companies and concessionary contracts in the country. For each of them; the Register shows records of procurement; establishment of the concessionary company; capital structure; owners and changes to control over their shares; contracts; and the economic and management performance over the years.
Albanian Institute of Science
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