The IFC-World Bank report said that the costs of opening a business in Tirana is the highest in the 22 regional cities, and five times more than the EU average standing at 31.4 percent of income per capita
TIRANA, June 28 – Starting a business in Albania’s main cities may be easier than in other regional cities when it comes to number of procedures and time required, but its costs are the highest in the region. The findings are published in the latest Doing Business in Southeast Europe 2011 IFC-World Bank report analysing the ease of doing business in 22 cities from seven economies: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, FYR Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, and Serbia. The report said that the costs of opening a business in Tirana is the highest in the 22 regional cities, and five times more than the EU average standing at 31.4 percent of income per capita. “The cost differences within the region are also significant. “The cost to open a business varies from 1.5% of income per capita in Niksic and Plevlja (Montenegro) – similar to Finland – to 31.4% in Tirana (Albania), which is 5 times more than the EU average,” said the report. Across the region, the average cost to start a business decreased from 22 percent to 13 percent of the average per capita income. The average time required to process construction permits and register property also decreased by more than one month. The Albanian cities covered in the report were Tirana, Durres, Shkodra and Vlora. Albania’s capital, Tirana was ranked last in region for dealing with construction permits as no permit has been issued since 2009. “As of January 2011, no construction permit had been issued here since 2009, mainly because rivaling political parties represented in the council make consensus decision making unattainable.” In 2007, Albania was one of the first economies in the region to introduce one-stop shops throughout the country. As a result, start-up times have decreased significantly since then. More recently, Albania removed the requirement to register with local chambers of commerce. Yet companies still have to register with municipal tax bureaus. Doing Business investigated the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Regulations affecting four stages of the life of a business are measured at the subnational level in South East Europe: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property and enforcing contracts. These indicators were selected because they cover areas of local jurisdiction or practice.
