TIRANA, April 26 – Opposition leader Lulzim Basha launched strong accusations towards the government this week saying that public funds are going only in the coffers of eleven companies closely connected with the country’s Prime Minister Edi Rama. Basha listed all eleven companies together with their owners and also mentioned the alleged relationship each had with the Premier.
The opposition estimates that the eleven companies allegedly connected with the Prime Minister have received approximately USD 89 million from state funds, whereas the government itself has squandered another USD 90 million. “USD 89 million taken by this eleven and another USD 90 million wasted by the government on luxury spending would have been enough to employ for a year 25,000 Albanians with an average monthly salary of $450,” Basha told journalists.
Basha also added that as a result of corruption the gap between rich and poor in Albania keeps growing every day. The leader of the opposition also claimed that despite an increase in taxes and customs tariffs the state budget is missing Euro 400 million. “Euro 2.2 billion have been embezzled in two years, in 2014 and 2015 with the lion’s share coming from taxation and customs,” Basha said.
The opposition leader added that the Democratic Party had ‘a solid plan’ for taking the country out of the crisis by introducing fair taxation and establishing transparent procurement procedures coupled with policies that generate employment. Basha’s comments received the attention of the Prime Minister who replied in distance to the accusations through a tweet. “They know they are with their backs against the wall. The more they cry crime, the more the truth hurts that they can’t escape the justice reform,” Rama wrote.
Meanwhile, one of the companies mentioned by Basha as having received public money thanks to its connections with the Prime Minister vowed legal action considering the accusations as completely unfounded. The owner of Intech, Sokol Sinani stated that the smear campaign is damaging the reputation of the company
