Supreme State Audit identifies $73 mln of abuses

TIRANA, March 27 – The total damage that the Albanian public administration has caused the state budget in less than three years is estimated to be at 7.3 billion Lek (73 million dollars), an annual report by the Supreme State Audit (SSA) has found.
The report which has been submitted to parliament includes 150 controls SSA officials carried out in 2009 in central and local government institutions, identifying severe violations of state budget in 2007, 2008 and in the first 9 months of 2009.
The biggest abuses, some 3.1 billion lek, were identified in the sale and rental process of public property. The Environment and Forestry Ministry was the most problematic institution with 592 million Lek of damage because of failing to collect rent and taxes from companies which have been given considerable areas of woodlands.
Tax offices were the second most abusive sector with 2.5 billion lek of damage in tax collections, VAT calculations and social securities.
Next came tenders with 431 million lek of abuses in road projects and investments by foreign companies. The Supreme State Audit also identified abuse of power by the public administration through rewards and allowances at 866 million lek.
The customs administration has also caused a considerable damage of 300 million lek.
“SSA has managed to discover cases which carry elements of economic crime and corruption in the public administration,” said the report.
According to the SSA report, 27 public administration officials, mainly from the tax sector, were sued last year for a damage of 2 billion lek. Violations included abuse of power, false documents, and favoring of companies in tender procedures.
The SSA director, Albert Ceku, described the current level of cooperation with prosecutor’s offices and courts as not satisfactory because of the continuous delays in taking decisions and light punishments.
“By carrying out economic-financial controls, the SSA has had the opportunity to go to the roots of economic crime and corruption, recommending the best organizational solutions in order to limit or avoid factors favoring this phenomenon,” reads the report.
The SSA said state authorities had failed to apply sanctions against construction companies which had not fulfilled their obligations and often not met deadlines to finish contracted works.
The holding of publicity campaigns by state authorities last year was also described as problematic because of the considerable amount of funds spent. The SSA has suggested that government should undertake a legal initiative to determine the rules for the selection of media or advertising companies producing and broadcasting government spots.
SSA has requested that the whole 7.3 billion Lek of damage identified in the 2009 controls is subsidized when drafting the next budget.