TIRANA, Oct. 14 – The Albanian government has filed a lawsuit against two former deputy ministers of the current opposition Democratic Party who are alleged to have abused power with the sale of four small and medium sized hydropower plants to Turkey’s Kurum back in December 2012, causing the state budget Euro 3.4 million in damage.
The legal action comes after the Energy Ministry carried out an audit into the privatization of the four hydropower plants, the Bistrica 1 and Bistrica 2 in southern Albania and the northern Ulez and Shkopet HPPs, which in late 2012 were sold for 110 million euros.
“The audit found that in addition to violations in procedures, the buyer had to pay about 3.4 million euros in rehabilitation fees for the Ulez and Shkopet HPPs, an amount which gave an unfair advantage to the purchaser,” says the ministry, which has filed charges against former deputy energy ministers Florjon Mima and Enno Bozdo.
The former deputy ministers have described the charges as politically motivated, saying that the deal was passed by Parliament.
In a tender held in December 2012, Turkey’s Kurum International, which in Albania already operates the Elbasan steel plant, offered a total of Euro 109.5 million on the privatization of four small and medium sized hydropower plants, being the highest bidder.
