Austrian firm gets fuel quality concession

TIRANA, Sept. 8 – Austria-based Global Fluids International has won a 10-year contract to monitor the quality of fuel in Albania. Global Fluids, which bid USD 4 million, had earlier been awarded a bonus by government because of making an unsolicited offer. The company will deal with check fuel quality in customs points. No detailed information was provided on the bids submitted by participant companies in the May 14 tender.
The fuel quality is currently supervised by the Central Technical Inspectorate.
Government had announced it would contract a specialized company to mark fuel and monitor the market in order to respect fuel quality and prevent tax evasion. Several oil companies were suspended and had their licences revoked last year because of trading fuel not meeting standards and smuggling. In early 2011, a massive fraud scheme involving the gasoline and diesel distribution system, selling mixed premium products with inferior byproducts that could have damaged thousands of vehicles and cost consumers millions was unveiled. The probe led to charges for 13 men, both public officials and businesspeople.
After slightly dropping last summer, fuel prices have reached record high levels again. Both diesel and petrol prices stand at an average of 195 lek/litre (Euro 1.4).