TIRANA, July 21 /ATA/ – Albania has won an international arbitration case against Canadian oil company Bankers Petroleum, which now owes the state 240 million euros, Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Monday.
Speaking during his regular “Sy m’Sy” (Eye to Eye) Q&A segment on social media, the government head said the oil company Bankers Petroleum had caused “major problems” for the country and called on prosecutors to investigate the case independently.
“We won the arbitration, and Bankers now owes Albania 240 million euros,” Rama said. “It’s time for the Prosecutor’s Office to conduct a fully independent investigation. I commend the prosecutors who pursued this case and hope they uncover all wrongdoing within this company.”
Bankers Petroleum, formerly Albania’s largest foreign investor in the oil sector, operated the Patos-Marinza oilfield under a concession agreement. Rama said the contract, signed before his administration took office in 2013, was one of many inherited agreements that had imposed significant financial burdens on the state.
Rama defended his administration’s public-private partnerships (PPPs), citing major projects such as the Arbër Road, urban waste management, and the sterilization of medical equipment – all of which, he said, came at no cost to citizens.
“Our PPPs have allowed for vital infrastructure and healthcare improvements without financial burden on the public,” he said, noting that services such as medical testing and sterilization of surgical tools are now free and have significantly reduced post-operative infections.
Rama clarified that his criticism of Bankers Petroleum was not personal.
“I have no issue with any specific names behind Bankers or any other company. My concern is solely with the impact on the Albanian state and its people,” he added.
/j.p/u.sh/
