Nufi rejected criticism from the opposition Democratic Party (PD), saying the allegations were misplaced as firefighters, civil emergency teams, armed forces personnel and air force pilots continue to battle wildfires across the country.

“At a time when emergency services and armed forces personnel are working under extremely difficult conditions to contain fires nationwide, these accusations are incomprehensible,” Nufi said in a statement.

The Minister said the opposition had previously challenged Albania’s $302 million Foreign Military Financing (FMF) loan agreement with the United States and was now targeting the government’s efforts to strengthen aerial firefighting capabilities.

According to Nufi, the procurement process for the aircraft was conducted in full compliance with Albanian legislation and based on principles of legality, transparency, competition and equal treatment of bidders. He said the contract was awarded to the lowest-priced qualifying offer.

The investment includes the training of Albanian pilots to operate the aircraft and is intended to enhance the country’s capacity to respond to wildfires and other civil emergencies.

Nufi described the purchase as a strategic investment aimed at improving civil protection, safeguarding lives and property, and protecting the environment.

He also urged political actors not to use issues related to national security, civil protection and strategic partnerships for partisan purposes.

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During this period, OBP conducted nearly 1,000 procurement procedures for 216 public entities, standardized technical specifications and pricing, and doubled participation by economic operators, boosting competition and transparency.

“Twenty-one months ago, OBP did not exist as a functioning structure. Today, it is one of the strongest mechanisms for budgetary efficiency in the country,” Pogaj said, describing the savings as “public funds protected, responsibly managed for citizens.”

The agency said the centralized model reduces procurement times, improves prices, and ensures more efficient public spending, highlighting its financial impact amid continued fiscal pressures.

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The project, awarded to the French company Voltalia following an international tender organized by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, aims to diversify the country’s energy sources.

In March 2021, Voltalia won the bid with a price of EUR 29.89 per megawatt-hour for a 15-year period. The photovoltaic park will be built on an area of 120.85 hectares within the Spitallë Industrial Park, near Porto Romano, and will connect to the national transmission grid through a new 110 kV substation and transmission line.

Spitalla Solar is designed to have an installed capacity of 100 MW, of which 70 MW will be purchased by the Albanian Electricity Distribution Operator (OSHEE) under a fixed-price power purchase agreement, while the remaining 30 MW will be sold on the open market.

Voltalia previously won Albania’s first government auction for the Karavasta solar park in 2020, offering a price of EUR 24.89 per MWh.

The Spitalla project is Albania’s second-largest photovoltaic park and is expected to improve the country’s energy balance by reducing reliance on hydropower, which currently accounts for over 90% of electricity production.

Currently, around 10% of Albania’s total energy generation comes from solar power, with the remainder supplied by the Drin River cascade hydropower plants and private concession-operated hydroelectric facilities.

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BKH, modeled after the FBI, serves as SPAK’s investigative arm and plays a central role in high-profile corruption and organized crime cases.

The five-year term of BKH’s current chief Aida Hajnaj, appointed to the post in September 2020, is approaching the end. She was the first to serve as head of the institution with the right to seek reelection.

The replacement process should complete before Hajnaj’s term ends in August and the candidates should submit required documents within May 7.

SPAK has called for applications, stating that the candidates must meet high integrity standards and have no political or intelligence ties.

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Taking the floor at a regular plenary session on Monday, Parliament Speaker Elisa Spiropali announced that the Council of Ministers has forwarded four draft laws to Parliament, while a bill has been forwarded by a group of lawmakers.

“The Council of Ministers has required to fast-track the procedures of the Albanian Development Bank bill,” Spiropali told lawmakers.

Albanian government has recently announced its plans to found the Albanian Development Bank, a project due to be implemented in collaboration with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, a leading financial institution in Italy, in order to bring a new development engine to Albania.

Similar to the national promotional banks or institutions operating in the European Union, the main goal of the Albanian Development Bank is to promote the country’s  economic and social development by easing access to finance for underfunded sectors of the economy, mainly small and medium-sized enterprises, including micro-enterprises and start-ups, as well as supporting development projects on improvement and modernization of physical and digital infrastructure, with a special focus on green economy investments.

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Interior Minister Hoxha also met with Greek border police officials to discuss a set of measures aimed at easing the logjam in the long queue by streamlining border crossing procedures between the two countries, as the number of Albanian migrants returning back home to spend holidays with their families is increasing.

He called for more support and increased number of border police staff to speed up procedures.

“Together with the Director General of the State Police and the Director of the Border Police Department, we visited the Kakavije border crossing. During the inspection, I had the chance to meet with Greek police officials to share some concerns. Last week I had a meeting with the Greek Ambassador to discuss measures aimed at handling the influx of Albanian migrants at Kakavije and other border crossings,” Hoxha said.

Interior Minister said that together with Greek police officers also visited the coordinating centre, established under an intergovernmental agreement and operating as such through cooperation between Albanian and Greek police.

He noted that illegal immigration has been reduced by up to 60% thanks to the agreement between the Albanian government and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex).

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The legislation on “establishment of state company for production and the trade of weapons, ammunition and military equipment and technology” was included on agenda of a plenary session on July 25.

The decision to fast-track the bill sparked strong objections from opposition lawmakers.

The main opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Jorida Tabaku questioned the rush, claiming that the changes to firearm laws were allegedly made just two months ago at the request of a firearms distributor.

“The legislation on weapons production was amended two months ago, because a firearms distributor demanded that two different weapons and ammunition types be included on the list. Parliament approved the changed legislation two months ago at the request of this distributor. However, the law was changed six months ago. How can parliament convene a session at the request of an operator? This law is aligned with the EU legislation,” Tabaku said.

Responding to criticisms, Socialist Party lawmaker Toni Gogu defended the government’s move to speed up the legislative process, emphasizing the opportunity for further debate in committee sessions before the final plenary vote.

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In a statement after the cabinet’s regular meeting on Wednesday, the Deputy Prime Minister Belina Balluku, also Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, said that the changes to the decision on rules and procedures for the construction of new electricity capacities are devised to facilitate entire application process as the private sector initiative to invest in renewable energy facilities, both solar and wind power plants, has increased significantly in the last few years.

“Compared to two years ago, we have registered a significant number of private entities seeking to invest in renewable projects without demanding predetermined prices and state budget support. To this end, we have decided to ease these processes,” Balluku clarified.

According to her, private companies had to apply and obtain prior authorization previously.

Renewable energy projects are supported by the Albanian government.

Albania’s energy system relies almost exclusively to hydropower and therefore alternative sources such as solar and wind energy will ensure diversity and security, while also making the country more resilient to climate change factors and reducing energy costs.

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The representatives of the Social Insurance Institute as well as the Mandatory Health Care Insurance Fund held an online meeting today with representatives of the Social Insurance Institute in Turkey.

“In implementation of the bilateral agreement on social protection, we agreed on the electronic exchange of communication forms, which will guarantee safe transmission of documentation, avoiding delays, as well as reducing costs”, said the general director of the Social Insurance Institute Astrit Hado.

According to him, there has been pursued a total of 737 practices since the entry into force of the agreement between both institutes.

Early this month, Albania also signed with Italy the agreement on the recognition of social insurance thanks to which there will benefit over 550 thousand Albanian citizens.

Similar agreements have so far been signed with Austria, North Macedonia, Belgium, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Romania, Germany, Turkey, Hungary, Switzerland, Canada, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Croatia, Luxembourg and Italy.

Also, 17 social protection agreements are in the process of negotiation with Greece, Moldova, Denmark, Slovenia, Netherlands, Australia, USA, France, Poland, Sweden, Serbia, Norway, Spain, Iceland, United Kingdom, Finland and UAE.

While 3 social protection agreements with India, Israel and Saudi Arabia are in the evaluation process./p.s./

The 2022 edition of the Balkan Barometer positively assesses business perceptions through a questionnaire with 177 questions addressed to 1203 business representatives, also regarding customs procedures for imports and exports.

According to the Barometer, “In the region, Albania seems to have the fastest import customs procedures with less than two days (for more than 50% of importers) while the customs of Bosnia-Herzegovina and North Macedonia require more time, over five days (respectively 14% and 10% of the interviewees)”.

According to the Barometer, Albania has one of the fastest customs procedures even for exports in less than two days, while for other countries the customs clearance time of goods for export is 3-5 days.

According to the survey, exporters spoke about a reduction in barriers in the form of a reduction in requirements for documentation and permits and licenses (16%) and written documentation (15%), since 2020. This is explained by several regional integration initiatives, which have been discussed and promoted during 2021.

The positive conclusion of the Barometer is that “Albania is not on the list of countries that require written documentation (Albanian customs work through IT systems and are paperless), while the requirement for written documents remains a problem for Kosovo, Bosnia and Serbia”. /j.p/p.s./