Surprise sale of Dajti Hotel sparks debates

TIRANA, May 15 – The surprise sale of the landmark state-owned Dajti hotel has sparked debates in Albanian politics with government supporting the sale to the central bank and the opposition Socialist Party calling it an operation to fill the crisis-hit state coffers and a sign of ill-government.
Speaking to reporters after attending a summit of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development held in Zagreb, Berisha said the Dajti hotel was sold to the central bank in order to avoid its destruction. “I initially intended to give the hotel to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the ministry has an area of 1,000 square meters bigger in the premises where it is currently located and I had not planned to destroy the Dajti hotel and build a Foreign Ministry,” said Berisha.
The Prime Minister denied the sale of the Dajti hotel was related to the postponement of Albania’s first Eurobond issue or government’s need for money.
The Bank of Albania has described the 30 million euro purchase as a successful operation saying that the central bank needed additional premises and that the sale was not a last-minute action but a decision made after long consultations by a working group with the Prime Minister’s office.
“The Bank of Albania’s project on the Dajti Hotel is very original and will respect the current architecture,” central bank officials have told local media.
Meanwhile, the opposition and some experts have described the sale as an effort to increase revenues and liquidity in crisis-hit state budget.
“The Bank of Albania has unfairly given the government 8.5 billion lek or 85 million dollars to fill the empty coffers of Albanian government,” said Socialist MP Erion Brace, accusing the central bank of giving government a 30 million dollar direct loan, making a transfer of 25 million dollars of the bank’s profits and most recently buying the hotel for 30 million euros during this year.
Economy expert Zef Preci said that government could withdraw the profits of the Bank of Albania to the state budget if it needed money. “This is reflected as a sale but the Bank of Albania which in this case is the buyer is a state institution,” said Preci.
Under the sale contract, the Albanian government has the right to pre-purchase the hotel in case the Bank of Albania intends to sell it.
The Bank of Albania will use the Dajti while its headquarters are being refurbished. The government repeatedly failed to sell the hotel to private investors. The 98-room Dajti was Tirana’s only luxury hotel during the post-WWII decades of Communist rule but fell into disuse after the Communist regime collapsed in 1990.