Number plate design changed to meet EU standards

TIRANA, September 3 – Government has approved a new number plate system for the country’s motor vehicles which will be implemented starting from next January. The new number plates, which will initially be compulsory only for the registration of new vehicles and those car owners who have had them damaged and want to replace them, are aimed at eliminating abuses and bring them closer to European Union standards.
Speaking at a press conference last week, Kreshnik Bozho, the director general of road transport service, said the replacement of number plates would not have extra costs for Albanian citizens.
Explaining the reasons why this decision was taken, Bozho said that the main reason was to eliminate abuses for different categories of cars which currently have the same type of number plates.
The ministry official said there had been abusive cases with truck or trailer number plates often placed in cars.
“To eliminate these abuses we have designed special models for the registration of vehicles, the trailer number plates, and the agricultural and technological machinery.”
Another reason for this decision is that the current system, combining one letter and four digits is at its limits as only the letters X and Y have remained available.
The new number plates show the country’s coat of arms with the AL country sign symbol below on a blue EU background, two letters on the left, three digits in the centre and two other letters.
“By changing the coat of arms in the in the number plates, the country also meets the commitments determined in the Council of European Union,” said Bozho.
According to him, the new system would clear the registration system from vehicles which are currently out of circulation but are de facto in the available in registers.