TIRANA, March 9 – Deputy Finance Minister Irena Beqiraj has been appointed the acting customs director general after the unexpected resignation of Elisa Spiropali last week. Spiropali, who led the customs administration for the past 15 months, announced her resignation last week on social networks, saying she wants to dedicate more time to her family after giving birth to her first child, a baby girl.
Her successor Irena Beqiraj, an accounting expert, will be the acting director until a new director takes over, Finance Minister Shkelcim Cani told a press conference last weekend.
Beqiraj, who holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, has been deputy finance minister since last December, being in charge of the fiscal sector.
She temporarily takes over as customs director general at a time when the customs administration faces a difficult moment due to a sharp cut in domestic oil extraction and mining exploration affecting mining royalty as international oil and base metal prices have suffered a sharp cut. Income from the excise duty on tobacco is also reported to have suffered a significant decline in early 2015 due to higher taxes making prices unaffordable and tighter penalties on the smoking ban on enclosed areas. The finance ministry says fuel imports are also reported to have declined in early 2015 because of higher domestic production. The declining international fuel prices, which have almost halved since their mid-2014 peak level are also having an impact on government, especially VAT which is levied at a fixed 20 percent.
Crown Agents assistance
Finance Minister Cani has confirmed government’s expectations from the customs consultancy by UK-based Crown Agents had not been met.
“The expectations were huge, we didn’t hide this, but we clearly expressed this is a question of time. There is room for the accelerated action and effects from Crown Agents’ work,” said Cani.
One year after hiring UK-based Crown Agents to assist the country’s customs administration improve its performance by fighting corruption, the Albanian government has admitted cooperation with the external consultant has not been as successful as it expected.
“Work by the external consultant on customs administration will continue but the big boost in collections expected at the time of signing has not yet been realized,” government reports to the IMF.
Under a deal signed in late 2013, the Albanian government agreed to pay UK-based Crown Agents Euro 8.5 million during the first two years of its operation in Albania where it will assist the country’s customs administration improve its performance by fighting corruption. The company will be stripped of all taxes during its operation in Albania, including profit tax, personal income tax for its experts, VAT, and social security and health insurance, which sparked fierce reaction by the opposition.
Data published by the customs administration shows customs revenue rose by only 8 percent to 150.6 billion lek (euro 1 billion), but failed to meet the target by 3.6 percent or 5.5 billion lek (Euro 39 million lek). The increase in customs revenue was almost the same to the 2012-2013 period, boosted by higher excise duties levied on tobacco and an increase in the circulation tax levied on fuel.
