Opposition opposes privatization

Reacting on Wednesday, opposition Socialist Party leader Edi Rama described the draft law privatizing the hydropower plants as an abusive act that would ruin the economy, and he warned that the opposition Socialist Party would not recognize it. “The hydropower plants are part of a large public asset which is a big national treasury and profitable property with clear returns,” said Rama. Pajtim Bello, a former deputy minister of energy under the previous Socialist government, considers the majority’s initiative to sell the hydropower plants a wrong step which could have consequences for the economy and citizens. According to him, in the current unfavorable economic situation– with the ongoing crisis in Europe and the region– it is not the appropriate moment to make strategic privatizations. “The state production of electricity has been the key mechanism protecting citizens from the unstoppable increase in power prices,” Bello told reporters. However, the government says the installed power capacity of the four hydropower plants is comparable to other energy works which are being built privately in Albania.