TIRANA, Feb. 12 – On Tuesday, the Administrative Court in Tirana decided in favor of the Albanian Duty Free Development (ADFD) to continue its activity at Tirana International Airport’s duty-free space, thus overturning the decision of the Ministry of Finance to revoke its license. The decision adds further to the U.S. International Cruise Duty Free (ICDF) company’s eight-month delay in launching its activity at TIA’s duty free space, with an investment of over 3 million dollars.
According to the Court, the Ministry had to rescind rather than revoke the renewed license because it was aware of the legal proceedings taking place between the two parties at the time. Moreover the Court called the Ministry’s actions “bizarre” , seeing as it renewed and then revoked ADFD’s license all at once.
“We heard the court’s decision, which was very disappointing. This sends a very negative message to the foreign investor community. I am unable to say now what the investor’s next steps will be, but it sends both a bad example and a very negative message to investors as well as the investment climate. Investors should be asked about Arbitration first, though in previous cases Arbitration has proven negative for the Albanian state and for many others,” said Enio Jaà§o, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Albania.
The conflict between the companies drew media attention as the ADFD is owned by Elona Caushi, the wife of Judge Gjin Gjoni, a controversial name in the Albanian justice system.
Similar to the previous session, three U.S. Embassy representatives attended Tuesday’s court hearing to follow the issue closely. Shortly after the outcome, the U.S. Embassy released a statement on the court’s decision.
“As it stands today, the circumstances in regard to the Duty Free space at Tirana International Airport show the challenges foreign investors face in Albania. It is disappointing that the current business climate hinders increased foreign investment. Albania must apply a set of fair, transparent rules equally to all businesses. We hope the Government of Albania will take a serious look at the challenges in the current environment and implement tangible change to attract much needed foreign investment,” the U.S. Embassy wrote.
US company ICDF signed a contract with TIrana International Airport in July last year to invest 3 million dollars in the duty-free space of ”‹”‹the airport, but due to the conflict with the previous company, it has been unable to launch its activities as of today.
On Friday, the U.S. Ambassador to Albania Yuri Kim told the Voice of America that “if Albania wants greater economic opportunity and attracts more foreign investors, it must demonstrate that everyone plays by the same transparent rules and that those rules are applied equally and fairly to every person, every institution and every business.”
