TIRANA, Sept.17 – Private property and regular documentation and registration procedures have been the issue haunting Albanian administrations despite the political spectrum they are identified with. Private property and ownership rights are key to the smooth function of any democracy and market economy. Neither private enterprise nor foreign investment can be guaranteed if ownership problems persist. Feeling the increasing pressure of powerful groups claiming private ownership rights and compensations, trying to fight urban and construction informality and, ultimately, recognizing the need to find a long term solution to this problem, the current administration has engaged in a number of projects related to this issue.
Upon election, Albanian President Bamir Topi, himself from an old Tirana family with considerable private property, said that property rights would be one of the items on his priority list.
Recent initiatives
The registration of private property has been proposed to be performed by notaries, in a recommendation by Justice Minister Ilir Rusmaili to avoid the long waiting lines at the Office of Registration. The decision will affect citizens because notaries will apply commissions to their transactions. The project is expected to be operating within two months. Rusmaili added that this new proposal will aid registration offices through the work of the notaries by helping to complete the documentation of 600.000 urban slots and 300.000 rural ones which are still being processed.
The minister said that the project comes under the general initiative of digitizing the activity of the registration office and reducing the time needed for the process of property registration from 47 to 10 days. This will apply to granting construction permits as well, whose time will be reduced from six to three months. The Minister explained that citizens will not need to communicate with his office by standing in long lines but will carry out registrations through notaries, which in turn will be coordinated by the ministry through normal correspondence.
Unsatisfied owners
The government measures have not always been welcomed by owners who have sometimes accused the administration of demagogy and not taking real actions. One of the leaders of the association, “Property With Justice”, Reshit Vorpsi, complained that the Agency for the Return and the Compensation of Property (AKKP) has not been transparent in the publication of funds for compensation and other indicators.
Vorpsi explained that the only information given was that funds are allocated for compensation in Tirana which included 22 651 860 m/2 published on the day promoting information on the issue, but that too has been left undeveloped. He also commented on the latest initiative of the AKKP to consider all property decisions taken after 1993 as unconstitutional. The association considers only the judicial system to be capable of re-examining such decisions, though the role of the agency in informing them is crucial and should not be overlooked. Vorpsi said that the association will appeal this decision as well as the law that gives such a right to AKKP to the Constitutional Court. Landowners also oppose the decision of setting October 1 of this year as an ultimate deadline for presenting the documentation needed for compensation claims to be filed.
Effect on investment
The unresolved property claims and the negative aura that surround the topic in general affect the level of investments by questioning their safety. Foreign investors are reluctant to spend in a country in which they would never feel secure that the land upon which they are building is theirs or if some obscure owner will appear and seek compensation.
According to an OECD report the FDI stock in Albania is the lowest in the region.
