High State Audit reports Euro 32 mln in abuses

TIRANA, July 30 – Albania’s High State Audit has uncovered 4.56 billion lek (Euro 32 million) in abuses by central and local government institutions during controls carried out in the first half of this year. Controls unveiled 3.45 billion lek (Euro 24.3 million) in financial violations on income and spending and around 1.1 billion lek (7.8 million euros) in financial discipline violations during the 2011-2013 activity of the audited institutions and the first quarter of 2014.
The majority of violations, some 978 million lek (Euro 6.9 million), was uncovered in the sale and rent of state property, the overwhelming majority of which in the Energy and Industry Ministry in concession contracts for failure to collect penalties on investments and submission of project implementation.
Second ranked the customs administration with 846 million lek (Euro 6 million) of abuses, mainly in the Durres and Vlora customs points.
The State Audit also uncovered 153 million lek (Euro 1 million) of abuses in the tax administration and around 347 million lek (Euro 2.5 million) in procurements, mainly in local government units.
Some 16 people, mostly local government officials have been sued for damage estimated at around 2.6 billion lek (Euro 18.7 million).
In a recent report, Albania’s High State Audit said it identified around Euro 17 million in alleged abuses in the country’s biggest port of Durres. The abuses which cover the September 2010 – October 2013 period include violations on concession procedures on several port services, the implementation of contracts with private companies operating in the port and procurement procedures for investments.