Former property owners oppose compensation below market prices and the use of long-term treasury bonds and shares in state-owned enterprises
TIRANA, Oct. 17 – A World Bank report suggesting the acceleration of the property compensation and restitution process by revising the current legal framework foreseeing compensation at current market prices has angered the ex-property owners. In a recent meeting with the Kseniya Lvovsky, the World Bank country manager for Albania, representatives of the Property with Justice Association said the World Bank report, “Governance in the protection of immovable property rights in Albania,” did not reflect the views of former owners. Association members also opposed suggestions by World Bank experts of following examples applied by other ex-communist countries whose property compensation schemes also include long-term treasury bonds and shares in state-owned enterprises, rather than cash. In the meeting with the Association members, World Bank’s Lvovsky acknowledged their concerns, and emphasized the importance and need for continuous consultations with all stakeholders, which is called for in the report. She explained that the Bank report tries to describe the long and complicated history of property rights in Albania, and identify bottlenecks for progress. The report brings different experiences from other European countries, which have had to deal with similar issues. “We studied the international experience, and there is not a single country in the entire world- not only in Europe but the entire world – that has considered fair to provide a full compensation at the current market price for the land confiscated many years ago,” noted Mrs. Lvovsky. Taking into consideration its unique history, commitments and circumstances, these experiences offer a wide range of options and approaches that should help develop a solution, through government-led consultations, that would have broad political support, says the World Bank. Agim Torro, the secretary of the Property with Justice Association is concerned the World Bank findings could be used by the government for its 2011-2014 policies on property restitution and compensation. According to him, fair compensation at market prices is foreseen even by the Albanian Constitution and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. An acceleration in the payment of compensation to expropriated owners is urgently needed to ensure credibility of the law, stem the flow of legal challenges, and remove obstacles to the completion of the legalization process, says the World Bank in its report. At the same time, this may require revisiting the legal provision to pay compensation at current market values, which is not in line with international practice. A comprehensive solution will also need to consider the status of a large number of informal properties that currently remain outside the legalization process and clarify the legal rights of legalization applicants while the process is ongoing, suggests the report.
