TIRANA, June 15 – Foreign companies operating in Albania continue transferring large amounts of profits from Albania rather than reinvesting them.
Bank of Albania data shows foreign companies transferred some 66 million euros in profits in the first quarter of this year, compared to 70 million euros in the final quarter of 2014 and 42 million euros in the first quarter of 2014.
Foreign companies operating in Albania increased their transfer of profits abroad to 240 million euros in 2014, up from only 82 million euros during 2013, according to central bank data.
Since the onset of the global financial crisis, foreign companies operating in Albania have considerably increased the transfer of profits to their parent companies.
Bank of Albania data show the transfer of profits dropped to 82 million euros in 2013, down from 232 million euros in 2012 and 2011, 365 million euros in 2010 and a record 401 million euros in 2009 at the onset of the global financial crisis.
“Under these conditions the increase in transfer of profits implies that foreign companies are reinvesting their profits in Albania less and sending back more in cash profits to their parent companies affected by the debt crisis,” experts say.
The transfer of profits from 2004 to 2009 ranged from Euro 19 million to euro 57 million annually, according to the Bank of Albania.
Since mid-2014 new legislation has been in force in Albania on transfer pricing, an activity that involves one department in a company charging another department in the same company or another company in the same group for supplying goods and services, bringing it in line with EU and international standards.
