AMC, Vodafone – biggest corporate taxpayers

Tirana, May 11, 2008. Data released from Albanian tax authorities reveal that the largest corporate taxpayers in Albania are two Greek owned telecom companies, AMC and Vodafone. The revenues of AMC are some ALL 24.8 billion, while the revenues of Vodafone reached ALL 23.6 billion. Altogether, the two telecom companies generated a volume of Euro 400 million last year. It means that each day, the Albanians used Euro 1.1 million to call each other.
AMC and Vodafone changed places last year. For three years in a row (2004-2006), Vodafone was the country’s largest taxpayer, earning slightly more than its rival does. Vodafone had, in 2006, net revenues of ALL 22 billion or ALL 2.3 billion more than in 2005. AMC had net revenues of ALL 21.5 billion compared to ALL 18.3 billion in 2005. Among the 10 top corporate taxpayers in Albania, only two are Albanian owned. These are Marketing & Distribution, and Ta詠Oil. Marketing & Distribution is concentrated in the trade of cigarettes, detergents, razors, SIM cards, and other consumer products. The company lost its exclusive contract with of the U.S. tobacco giant, Philip Morris, in 2006. Nevertheless, Marketing & Distribution increased its net revenues in 2006 to ALL 8.2 billion compared with ALL 5.7 billion in 2005. Ta詠Oil is the leading Albanian importer of oil. In 2006, Ta詠Oil had net revenue of ALL 6.6 billion. It closest rival, Greek owned Global Petroleum, sold for only ALL 3.6 billion in 2006.
Among the top ten corporate taxpayers, six of them are trading companies, such as Marketing & Distribution. Only four produce or build products in Albania. These are Bechtel, Kurum, Eurotech Cement, and Seament. Bechtel, which won the concession to build the Durr촩-Morina road, should be considered as a temporary participant. Eurotech Cement had, in 2006, net revenues of ALL 3.2 billion compared to ALL 2.3 billion in 2005. Its closest rival, Seament, had 2006 net revenues of 2.9 billion.(Tirana Times Staff)