Albania’s top customs official, Endri Pema, has resigned and is being replaced by his former deputy, Flamur Gjyrmishka.
TIRANA TIMES
TIRANA, May 3 – Albania’s top customs official has resigned and is being replaced, officials announced last week.
Officials told the Albania media that Customs Director General Endri Pema resigned for personal reasons.
The government has selected his deputy, Flamur Gjyrmishka, to replace Pema as the country’s top customs official.
Pema’s resignation comes after the March figures were released. They indicated a good month for customs, but came after bad months in January and February, which fell very short of projected income.
Pema came to the post a year ago.
In addition to having problems meeting projected revenue, Pema’s work had not been welcome by some parts of the business community, the Albanian media reported.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Albania in particular was unhappy with answers the customs director gave in a meeting with the chamber late last month, according to the chamber’s official publication.
“It became evident that to fight the tax evasion of some rogue companies, customs officials have decided to respond with fighting all businesses,” the publication said. “Mr. Pema went so far as to propose a wager with AmCham that he would be able to confirm his theory. The bet would involve organizing flash audits at AmCham member companies to find out how well they were following regulations. And when two member companies volunteered to be audited, Mr. Pema refused to take their offer, saying he would select the targeted companies himself, so no volunteers were needed.”
