Under the guidance of the National Authorising Officer (NAO) and with support from the relevant departments, including the NAO Support Directorate and the National Fund Directorate, the ministry prepared a comprehensive dossier in line with EU standards.

The submitted package includes a request for the delegation of budget implementation tasks, accompanied by detailed evidence of compliance with criteria set by the European Commission.

The submission represents a pivotal moment in preparations for activating IPARD III funds, planned for 2026. Next, the process will enter the evaluation phase by the European Commission’s DG AGRI, including detailed document review and possible on-site verifications, scheduled for the second quarter of this year.

The Ministry of Finance remains committed to meeting all EU standards and ensuring the effective absorption of IPARD III funds to enhance the competitiveness of Albania’s agricultural sector and support sustainable rural development.

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The event was organized in cooperation with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture (DG AGRI) and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), and brought together representatives from the EU Delegation in Albania and local implementing bodies.

AZHBR Director Ardita Kuçi said the discussions focused on key areas such as: control and reporting mechanisms for IPARD fund management, best practices for detecting and preventing irregularities, and the use of digital tools to increase transparency and integrity in fund administration.

The event served as a platform for inter-institutional exchange, allowing Albanian officials to share experiences and challenges with EU experts, as well as explore collaborative solutions for effective programme implementation.

The Agency continues to play a central role in safeguarding the integrity of EU-funded programmes in Albania, strengthening national capacities for responsible fund management and contributing to the sustainable development of the country’s agriculture sector.

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The Agricultural and Rural Development Agency said that more than 100 000 farmers are involved in olive farming sector and they have received subsidies and funding under the National Agriculture Support scheme and the EU-funded IPARD II Programme.

Investments focus on olive standardization, processing, packaging and conservation lines, also on the construction of warehouses, factories or oil processing machines.

Under the 2022 National Agriculture Support Scheme, excise- free oil measure, subsidies were provided to farmers for an area of 7000 hectares of olive groves.

The goal of these measures is to align the sector standards with the European Union standards to ensure access of olive products and by-products to the international market.

For this reason, the IPARD III program envisages funding for olive culture in three measures: expansion of autochthonous olive groves, its processing, as well as the maintenance of traditional olive trees in the counties of Vlora, Tirana and Berat.

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“The third EU massive funding paves an even wider path for all those who wish to follow your great examples and all those who want to develop their venture. What is happening is an extraordinary innovation in the rural life of our country, which has been delayed. The agri-tourism today, still in a nascent phase, yet it speaks for itself. The reality of a significant number of households involved in such successful agri-tourism projects speaks for itself.

The area of cultivated agricultural land in Albania has doubled as compared to seven or eight years ago.

This is actually the case for several years now, because in addition to the fact that another system has been created and is in place now, because in addition to the fact that such measures have encouraged collection of agricultural products, in addition to stimulating agri-processing through these measures, significant work has been done to build rural roads, construct irrigation systems and despite the global crisis, despite impact of the war on costs, Albania’s agricultural exports have grown compared to the same period of the previous year when no war was going on.

These are facts, stubborn facts.

It was just a few years ago when the export-imports ratio was 1 to seven, with one unit representing exports and seven representing imports. This ratio is 1 to 3 currently, which means that local agriculture production has significantly increased as the arable and cultivated land area has expanded twice as much and production has grown.

The fact that beneficiaries under this programme are all whose work speaks for itself and beneficiaries under this programme are no longer picked based on political party affiliations, they are no longer selected through bribery or other corruption practices, is understood by a very simple thing, the fact that the European Union accredited the payment agency in 2018.

Those who keep alleging and calling for more funds to support the country’s agriculture, if we combine the state budget-provided funds and EU funds, the amount is the largest funding ever injected to the agriculture sector. With the EU certifying and funding agriculture, this means that the time when ARDA was a party branch and agriculture was divided into political party plots and that little money that was n by the party is now over.

This is the time when everyone should run and when we should stay on their side and support everyone presenting convincing projects, because the European Union wants to know for sure that the money it will provide will be used to support these projects. Otherwise, it turns down your application. It is as simple as that.

A total of 437 projects have been already designed and we can prepare 1000 more projects. Therefore I invite everyone to prepare important projects and benefit under the EU-funded programme.

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ARDA head, Frida Krifca held on Saturday an online meeting with the European representative of the DG AGRI Unit and the regional countries colleagues implementing IPARD program, to discuss the key points of implementation of the IPARD III program.

“During the meeting we were introduced to the new and proposed changes in the sectoral agreement – the very important basic document that regulates the implementation of the IPARD III Program,” Krifca said.

The objectives of the IPARD program are the implementation of European integration policies and agricultural and rural development programs in order to achieve national strategic objectives for achieving European standards in support of farmers and agri-processing enterprises, in accordance with applicable legislation on agriculture and rural development.

Albania has been implementing the IPARD program for two years now, a project funded by the Albanian government and the EU worth 94 million euros

During this period, 222 contracts have been signed to make new investments in the agriculture and agriculture industry. //a.i/

“We have built an excellent relationship of cooperation and interaction with the World Bank, of which we are very proud,”ARDA head, Frida Krifca said.

According to Krifca, the World Bank has served as a guide for ARDA and a strong partner for the implementation of the Environmental Services project along with the Ministry of Tourism and Environment and the Swedish government on the conservation, improving the sustainable management of mountain ecosystems, expansion of forest resources and prevention of forest fires.

“Along with the collaborators we discussed the lessons learned, the tremendous impact on remote rural communities and the further steps to be followed,” ARDA head Krifca said while adding that, “this has been an extraordinary exercise for ARDA in preparing the accreditation of environmental measures in the IPARD III program for which our partners congratulated us.” //a.i/