Authorities launch drive to curb power theft

Power thieves to face tougher criminal penalties, including prison time, prime minister says, aiming to stop 150 million euro annual drain on state budget.
TIRANA, Oct. 23 – The Albanian government has launched an extensive countrywide operation to curb the theft of electricity through the criminalization of the widespread practice and tougher sanctions, including imprisonment for perpetrators.
Prime Minister Edi Rama said the government would fight all electricity thieves, starting with business owners who steal power for commercial purposes.
Rama gave an ultimatum of five days for people to stop stealing electricity or the police would come knocking on their door, “to bring them back into the rails of the law.”
Recent changes to the criminal code make it possible for power thieves to be sentenced to three to five years in prison, with higher penalties for business owners.
“This is an operation where not even the slightest doubt that will have any power lifter directly face to every law and power theft have booked as any other thief,” Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Theft of electricity in Albania has been a problem for decades. It’s production and distribution is done by state-owned companies, which means 150 million euros annually are drained from the state budget.
The government says it will target everyone, including households that haven’t paid for years, but those who use stolen power for profit will be the first target.
“We’ll start with those that are the main problem — those who have factories and have large businesses and pay their bills as if they were a single family household. We will stick with it. They have five days, five days to return back to following the law,” Prime Minister Rama said in a press conference.
This is not the first time Albanian governments have spoken in tough terms about power theft, yet the problem has persisted.
This year alone, authorities have cut 600,000 illegal connections to the power grid, but many have simply been reconnected because the penalties have weak and with negligible action by the courts.
Criminal charges have been filed in 1,512 cases by the power distribution company, OSHEE, since the start of the year, and only 103 have seen trials.
Prime Minister Rama is angry with the justice system for not doing more. He had harsh words for judges at his press conference, with exerting public executive pressure on the judiciary to act.
“One thing must be clear for all the judges who continue without any reason continue to let perpetrators walk out free for acts of illegal construction and treat electricity thieves as simple bystanders. We will treat them the same way as electricity thieves, we will be on their case too.”
The government efforts announced this week come after changes were made to the criminal code to allow for sentences of up to five years for power theft. Household thieves would get three years, while in the case of business owners the penalty would be five years.
The power sector in Albania is mired in debt and loses, prompting authorities to seek deep reform.
The World Bank recently awarded a 150 million dollar loan to support the sector.
The government action also comes at a time when the government has effectively increased the price of electricity for all by removing a double-tier system that protected the poorest Albanians by allowing them to pay less for the first 300 kilowatts.
Prime Minister Rama said for poor families and pensioners will be reimbursed directly by the state for the power bill increase.