The long, tedious and conflict-stricken relationship between the right-wing administration currently in power and the Top Media company has culminated recently in the later receiving a penalty of around 13 million euro, a digit that would seriously jeopardize the liquidity and the well-functioning of any company in Albania. After months of repeated and often unwarranted check-ups from the financial authorities, the administration claims that it has found serious irregularities in the reporting of advertising revenues from the side of TopMedia. Hence the unpaid taxes over these revenues should be paid now, only with accumulated interests. On the other side, this company claims that the government is trying to shut down the company with absurd punishments.
The editorial line of all TopMedia components be it the Top-Channel TV or the Shqip newspaper has been highly antagonistic to many of the government’s decisions. TopMedia , especially through its DigitAlb satellite transmissions, reaches out to the widest Albanian audience so far and surpasses every other media in terms of outreach and even profitable figures. It also has a very good record of regular employment practices with its employees receiving social contributions in a time when journalism is the most problematic sector in the field of irregular employment.
Hence it ha snto been easy for the tax authorities to dig up the justification for a fine, the searches took months and were protested widely not only from the TopMedia itself but also from many other journalist associations and independent annalists. MPs of the opposition but not only, have often raised the concern about these abusive searches.
Now that the decision has been taken, if not reversed, it will affect he finances of the company immediately given the last “Fines law’ that obliges businesses to pay 15 percent of the fine in cash prior to any legal contestation. In simpler word TopMedia has to pay around 2 million euros before it even protest the decision.
The situation has gotten more complicated. In a meeting of journalism associations many of the people who have been so far silent about the check ups protested loudly, predicting that such measure can fall upon any disobedient media.
On Monday morning a crowd of protesters gathered in form of the office of the Prime Minister to blow loud whistles and protest this decision against free speech. What the protester don’t know (and luckily so otherwise their civic spirit would have waned) is that the ears they are targeting have fallen deaf long ago.
Nevertheless the action taken by the media itself and by these protesters is very beneficial. With a full-swing presidential crisis in progress, a potential upcoming election and an energy crisis threatening the economic situation very seriously the protests about the fine given to TopMedia risks being left at the bottom of the public debate. The loud whistles blowing in the square will not allow this to happen!
