The owners of the Incinerators have not had enough of the 60 million euros that the state budget has paid for two plants in Fier and Elbasan, but by using concession contracts they have managed to obtain millions of euros in bank loans.
The accounts of the incinerators in Fier and Elbasan were blocked by the Credins bank in January of this year. Fier due to an overdraft, while the Elbasan contract was pledged for a loan worth 4.7 million USD.
Today, the temporary administrators cannot use any hundreds for the maintenance of the facilities and repairs, risking the degradation of the works.
Documents obtained by Kronos reveal that the Credins bank granted a loan worth 4.7 million USD to the company Integrated Technology Services a few months before the incinerators were seized by SPAK.
The loan was issued on April 30, 2021 for the account of the ITS company owned by Klodian Zoto, but the concession contract that the state had concluded for the construction of the Elbasan incinerator with the firm “Albtek Energy” was pledged.
Although the concession contract does not allow collateral for obtaining loans that are not intended for the construction of the incinerator, Klodian Zoto pledged it to the bank.
The “ITS” company was seized together with the Fier incinerator on March 28, 2022 on account of investigations initiated by SPAK, thus freezing the payment of loan installments.
Credins Bank sends several letters to the Agency for Seized and Confiscated Properties requesting the repayment of loan installments.
The Law on Seizure and Confiscation of Property does not recognize the payment of bank obligations while the facility is blocked on account of a criminal process.
“The law on the administration of seized properties does not include the payment of bank obligations that arose before the property was seized,” says the state administrator for the Fier incinerator, Farudin Arapi.
In December of last year, Credins Bank approached the Bailiff Officers’ office to initiate the procedures for issuing an executive title until the full payment of the amount of 4.7 million USD.
On January 23 of this year, bailiff Alsid Kamberi requested the freezing of the bank accounts and properties of the Albtek Energy company on behalf of Credins Bank. Albtek turns out to be the owner of the Elbasan incinerator, since the seizure by SPAK took place a few days before the property was transferred to the Elbasan municipality.
The bank’s request is opposed by the Seized Property Agency. “The loan was granted for a longer period than the concession contract, 8 years, while the facility would be transferred to the municipality of Elbasan after a few months,” says Farudin Arapi.
“This money was taken for bribes, corruption, for Mirel Mërtiri’s companies in Malta, Bulgaria, for other businesses related to Zimbabwe and the drug case in Zimbabwe.” Says economist Brisida Shehaj.
But unlike what the Seized Property Administration Agency states, the bank clarifies that the company has submitted documents that it was not under investigation or convicted by the Court at the time of receiving the loan.
“The bank was not aware of, nor was it able to become aware of, the investigations that had been initiated. The relevant documents from the Prosecutor’s Office, the Court, and the Bailiff’s Office have been filed in the file, stating that the ITS company had no criminal cases or execution/enforcement cases until the moment of applying for the loan.” says in a response to Kronos Banka Credins.
The state administrator of the incinerator asks the Court to annul the Bailiff’s order, reminding them that this decision will create irreparable damage to the environment that affects a large community of residents in both the Fier and Elbasan regions.
“If the accounts and assets of the plaintiff company were to be blocked, serious and irreparable damage would be caused because the interests of a large community are implicated and it would directly affect the failure of the concession contract,” says the request to the court from the Agency for Sequestered and Confiscated Properties.
If the state administrator relies on Article 297 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which prohibits enforcement actions while the case is under investigation, the bank relies on another article of the Code of Civil Procedure.
“After the Credins Bank has ascertained the delays in the payment of obligations by the debtor, it has addressed the competent court with a request to issue an execution order. The court has assessed the request as fair and has issued the execution order. Subsequently, the Bank, with a request for enforcement, according to Article 515 of the Code of Civil Procedure, has submitted a request for the initiation of the procedure for the execution of the executive title.” says the Credins Bank.
Democratic Party MP Jorida Tabaku says that the scheme used does not fall only on the bank, but risks that in the future the municipalities will pay the loan with the citizens’ money.
“After 6 years, after 26 million euros of investment, after a very large cost to the state budget, Elbasan is in the same situation as before the concession began and now the loan is at risk of being paid by the municipality, or the facility being transferred to the bank,” she says.
If the Special Court for Corruption and Organized Crime decides to confiscate the works, then the incinerator facilities will become the property of the state and not the bank.
“The law clearly states that if the facility is confiscated, it does not go to the bank but belongs to the state,” says Farudin Arapi.
The assets seized by the justice system on behalf of the state have caused serious problems in the banking sector and have significantly increased bad loans in the system.
For several months, the Association of Banks has been requesting an amendment to the Law on Seizure and Confiscation of Assets, a request that has been accepted by the government. Institutions are working on amendments to the law that aim to recognize to a certain extent the payment of loan installments during the period when assets are under seizure or when they are confiscated.
Democratic Party MP Jorida Tabaku has taken an initiative in the Assembly to prohibit the financing of concessional projects or public-private partnerships with loans, while for these contracts as well as for the acceptance of companies in public tenders, entrepreneurs will be forced to have at least half of the financing value.
“I have taken a legal initiative to impose restrictions that in cases of concessions or PPPs the company must have 50% of the investment value, the same in the field of public tenders, so as not to jeopardize the implementation of the contract or to repeat such cases,” she says.
The initiative is in the discussion phase in the Albanian Assembly and for its approval, the consensus of the majority is definitely needed. /MCN/
