TIRANA, Nov. 9 – Albania’s losses in international court cases mounted to 388 million euros by the end of 2020, according to a report the country’s official financial auditors recently sent Albania’s parliament.
The Supreme State Audit, known locally as KLSH, noted the Albanian state has been sued in foreign international courts and international arbitration in 14 cases, with verdicts given in nine cases and five still pending.
Five of the nine verdicts went against the Albanian state, with 388,479,560 euros in penalties.
Albania did win four cases, with claims in the amount of 10,651,257 euros being rejected in decisions in favor of Albania, according the reporting by Monitor magazine of the KLSH report.
KLSH noted that it does not have enough information from the state’s lawyers to understand if there are still pending steps on appeals of the decisions mentioned in the report.
According to Monitor, the Albanian Ministry of Finance and Economy had earlier issued a total liability due to international arbitration cases valued at 109.5 million euros.
In its 2020 annual report, the Ministry of Finance and Economy reported that the value paid for arbitration in 2020 was only 33.3 million leks and does not provide information on liabilities for decisions pending the issuance of Council of Minister Decisions as contingent liabilities for the state budget.
KLSH reported that the ministry did not have the full information on what is owed, which forced it to turn its focus to the State Advocacy, the country’s official lawyers.
The KLSH report looked at European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decisions in particular, where by the end of 2020, there were seven unenforced decisions in the amount of 17,956,320 euros and at least 1,675,938 euros in accumulated interest.
The KLSH report also concludes that for the execution of these decisions, the three-month deadlines have not been met in violation of the amended Law on State Advocacy.
Albania’s losses in international courts have come under special focus following the case of the state ending up owing nearly 120 million euros after losing an international arbitration to Francesco Becchetti, an Italian businessman and former anti-government TV station owner.
The ruling Socialist Party refused an opposition request to have a parliamentary investigation into the case, citing possible damage to the country’s interest.
The opposition points out that it was threatening private messages to Becchetti by Socialist officials that led to the Italian businessman winning the arbitration case in court.
Albania’s government has refused to pay the money Becchetti won in arbitration — citing a criminal case against the Italian businessman in Albania — which has led to his lawyers launching bailiff actions in European countries looking to seize assets owned by Albania abroad.
Such actions are rare against a sovereign state, experts note.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has vowed several times in public that Becchetti would take “a cent” from Albania, but several payments destined for Albanian state coffers have already been redirected to Becchetti’s bank accounts in Austria due to bailiff actions, according to local press reports.
The case stems from the Italian’s failure to start work on a hydroelectric power project, leading to the Albanian government’s stripping him of the concession/ Another of Becchetti’s businesses in Albania, Agon Channel, a television station with a firm anti-government bent, was closed following an investigation by authorities on its funding, which led to charges of tax evasion and fraud for Becchetti.
He is still wanted by Albanian authorities and faces a criminal trial in Albania, although a court in the UK, where Becchetti lives, refused to give permission for extradition.
