TIRANA, July 3 – Scores of employees of the Albtelecom fixed-phone line company went on strike Monday asking the government to reveal the details of the sale of the company and also asking for the company’s plans for their future employment, or shares in that deal.
They also asked for 12 monthly salaries as had been promised.
The strikers said they would continue the strike until their requests are granted.
Last month, the Albanian government signed a contract for the sale of 76 percent of the Albanian state phone company, Albtelecom Sh.A., after renegotiating terms with a Turkish consortium in a deal worth 120 million euros.
The Albtelecom now has passed under the Calik Enerji telekomunikasyon a.S, a consortium consisting of Calik Enerji and Turk Telekom.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s Democratic Party-led government canceled the original sales contract after his party took power in September 2005, claiming irregularities in the sale. It also hired international auditors to investigate the deal.
Albanian authorities and the Turkish consortium renegotiated the contract terms, though the sale price remained the same.
Calik Enerji was the only international company offering to buy Albtelecom. Ten other companies from Slovenia, South Korea, the United States, Kuwait and Ireland had expressed early interest but did not submit bids.
Albtelecom, which the government valued at some 145 million euros in 2005, is the only fixed-line telephone company in the country that also operates a mobile phone division.
