Commercial bank to distribute usury compensation

By Ardit Bejko
TIRANA – Some 100,000 creditors who lost their savings in the 1997 pyramidal schemes of Gjallica, Beno, and Nahnel will get their refunds through a commercial bank starting September 2008, said Bajram Malaj, administrator of the supervisory body of the usury compensation, on June 17.
The Economy parliamentary group passed the law that specifies the money will be distributed through a secondary level bank, chosen from the Ministry of Finances and the Bank of Albania. “The negotiations might last up to a month after the law is passed, so the deadline for the distribution for those who lost their money in Gjallica will be September 2008,” Malaj said.
The Ministry will choose the bank that offers the most favorable conditions to the creditors, and will deposit in it the $ 10 million allocated for the usury compensation. The creditors will be able to either withdraw the money or keep it in the bank.
The September compensation is the first one ever for Gjallica’s creditors, Malaj said. There are 90,000 individuals who will get their compensation by a coefficient of 2.47 percent. The remaining 1250 creditors belong to the Beno and Nahnel schemes. The compensation coefficient for them will be 8 percent, Malaj added.
The new scheme of distribution will be followed for the compensation of the remaining 133,000 creditors still waiting to get part of their money back. The previous scheme passed on October 2007 required the distribution to be done through the National Commercial Bank (BKT).