State-run Albpetrol cuts 1,000 jobs

TIRANA, Nov. 19 – Albania’s state-run oil company, Albpetrol, has cut its workforce by 1,000 people as part of the restructuring of the company which is involved in oil extraction and oversees concession contracts with international oil companies operating in the Patos-Marinze oil field in southwestern Albania, one of the largest onshore fields in Europe. The Supervisory Council of Albpetrol has recently decided that 874 employees will be immediately sacked and 134 others will be dismissed within the first quarter of 2014, leaving Albpetrol with 1,868 employees. The dismissed employees will benefit one year of full wage.
Albpetrol has also announced all employees hired in the past three years will undergo testing.
Five Albpetrol employees were recently arrested on corruption charges while inspections showed concession companies monitored by Albpetrol had declared staggering expenditure to avoid paying profit tax.
In early 2013, the Albanian government invalidated a record staggering bid worth Euro 850 million on the privatization of Albpetrol oil firm after the winning bidder, Albanian-led Vetro Energy consortium led by Rezart Taci, failed to pay the financial guarantee leading to the finalization of the contract. After failing to meet the legal deadlines on the payment of the 20 percent financial guarantee twice, the Albanian government left Vetro Energy an undetermined date to deposit Euro 170 million as a precondition to finalize the contract but finally decided to cancel Vetro’s bid as invalid after the consortium failed to pay off the guarantee. The Albanian government is now seeking in damages the 10 percent bid guarantee from Vetro Energy, worth Euro 85 million, but investigations showed Vetro Energy, a newly founded consortium, has not deposited its 10 percent bid guarantee, and the Albanian government won’t be able to withdraw it.