Kosovo’s admission to the international ATA Carnet system is being viewed as a beneficial development for the business community, as this mechanism aims to simplify customs procedures and enable local businesses to participate in international fairs and activities.

Economics expert Jakup Bellaqa told “Bota sot” that inclusion in this system could help expand Kosovo businesses and promote their products in foreign markets.

According to him, membership in ATA Carnet is a positive, albeit temporary, step, as it gives Kosovo companies the opportunity to participate in international fairs without paying customs duties on imports made as part of these activities. Bellaqa stressed that this makes it easier to export “Made in Kosova” products by avoiding import customs duties and having a positive impact on Kosovo’s economic development. According to him, this process could support the economy’s development trends and the presence of local products in the international market.

Bellaqa also emphasized that this document, also known as the “passport for goods,” gives Kosovo products the right to be exported without customs duties and taxes for a temporary period while participating in international fairs.

He added that participation in these activities could help businesses establish contacts with international companies. According to the expert, these connections could lead to new trade partnerships and open up further opportunities and potential for business development.

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The Kosovo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DHTIK) and Vitia Municipality held the “Morning Coffee” event, which served as a forum for discussing the difficulties and demands of the business community.

During the meeting, the parties signed a Memorandum of Cooperation aimed at supporting economic development, creating new opportunities for businesses and increasing employment in the municipality.

According to the agreement, a foundation will be established for undertaking concrete initiatives aimed at improving the business climate and strengthening the economy in Vitia Municipality.

Skender Krasniqi, Chairman of the DHTIK Board, said cooperation with municipalities is essential to enable businesses facing problems at the local level to present them and receive responses and solutions as quickly as possible.

The Mayor of Vitia Municipality, Sokol Haliti, expressed his gratitude to DHTIK for organizing the event, highlighting the value of direct dialogue with businesses and addressing their demands.

The relevant statement said that business representatives raised a number of issues, including power cuts, problems in some parts of the economic zone, rising fuel prices and the lack of functioning institutions.

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Following Edi Rama’s statements on fines and inspections, Democratic Party MP Jorida Tabaku responded by analyzing how the state administration exerts pressure on businesses.

According to Tabaku, fines are not being used to combat informality or improve the economic climate, but have become an instrument of pressure that fuels corruption and primarily targets businesses that comply with the law.

In 2022 and 2023 alone, the tax administration imposed around 4.6 billion lek in penalties.

She emphasized that complaints from citizens and entrepreneurs about the administration have increased. According to her, fines are being used as a means of blackmail to collect what she described as a “corruption tax.”

Tabaku noted that while the informal economy accounts for around 40 percent of the country’s economy and remains among the highest in the region, pressure from institutions is focused on compliant and honest businesses.

Referring to data for 2024, she said that around 28 million euros in penalties were imposed in Albania, compared with 4.6 million euros in Serbia and 1.4 million euros in Montenegro.

Another case she highlighted was that of the National Inspectorate for Territorial Protection (IKMT). According to Tabaku, in 2024 alone, this institution imposed 447 fines worth around 1.2 billion lek, while managing to collect only around 2 percent of them.

Tabaku also raised concerns about the lack of transparency regarding the number of fines imposed, the amount collected, penalties overturned on appeal or by the courts, and cases in which fines were waived.

She underscored that the Unified Register of Fines was only created in 2026, after more than a decade of discrepancies and a lack of information.

According to Tabaku, the tax administration has become a structure in which inspectors act “like cowboys” toward businesses as a result of a system that seeks to control the economy through fines.

“Businesses are burdened not only by unfair taxes, but also by state officials who knock on the doors of businesses that comply with the law instead of those of tax evaders, whom they give a wink and let off.

In 2022 and 2023 alone, the tax administration imposed 4.6 billion lek in penalties.

More and more every day, not only over the phone but also during meetings with citizens, I have heard complaints about an administration that uses fines as a means of blackmail to collect the corruption tax.

Instead of addressing the informal economy, which accounts for around 40 percent of the economy and is among the highest in the region, the government targets compliant and honest businesses.

In Albania, 28 million euros in penalties were imposed in 2024. In Serbia, 4.6 million euros were imposed, while in Montenegro the figure was 1.4 million euros. This is a simple comparison showing how fines are becoming a means of pressure.

Another example is the IKMT. In 2024 alone, this institution imposed 447 fines worth around 1.2 billion lek. But only around 2 percent of the fines issued that year were collected.

Second, we still do not have a complete and transparent picture: how many fines are imposed, how many are collected, how many are overturned following appeals or by the courts and, ultimately, whose fines are waived.

We have heard about the creation of boards and agencies for everything, but there has been no real transparency over the system of fines. The Unified Register of Fines was only created in 2026, after more than a decade of fines, discrepancies and a lack of information.

There is a reason why Albania has become a country where fines are used so frequently. There is a reason why tax inspectors behave like cowboys knocking on business owners’ doors. And there is a reason why citizens do not know how many fines the government imposes, how many it collects and how many it waives.

It is the system built over these years.

A socialist system that seeks to control everything through an autocracy of fines and the corruption tax.

This system must be brought down, because the longer it lasts, the more fines are imposed, the higher the penalties become and the greater the pressure on businesses,” Tabaku said.

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The Special Prosecution Office of the Republic of Kosovo has filed an indictment with the Basic Court in Pristina against six people suspected of being part of an organized criminal group that intended to commit an aggravated murder and attack businesses.

The defendants, A.H., D.R., D.M., F.Q., Sh.K. and R.B., are charged with “Participation in or Organization of an Organized Criminal Group,” “Preparatory Acts for Aggravated Murder,” “Unauthorized Ownership, Control or Possession of Weapons,” “Forgery of Documents” and “Unauthorized Possession of Narcotics, Psychotropic Substances or Analogues.”

The indictment states that, from December 2024 to February 2025, the defendants operated as an organized criminal group, drawing up a plan and taking steps to murder a person.

They are also suspected of preparing attacks using firearms and explosive devices against businesses linked to the injured parties. According to the Special Prosecution Office, these actions were intended to cause material damage, intimidate the victims and demonstrate the criminal group’s power.

According to the indictment, each of the six defendants had a specific role in carrying out the plan, whose execution was prevented by the authorities’ investigative actions.

The Special Prosecution Office said it would continue its efforts to combat organized crime and bring to justice all those suspected of serious criminal offenses.

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It will no longer suffice for businesses to register only the name of the person who appears as the beneficial owner.

The new draft law “On the register of beneficial owners”, now under consultation, requires entities to document how they have identified the real owner, the links of the ownership structure and the mechanism through which ultimate control is exercised.

According to the draft, reporting entities must “maintain appropriate, accurate and up-to-date data and supporting documents”, on the basis of which the beneficial owners and the type of control exercised by them are determined.

The obligation is not limited to documents proving direct ownership of shares. The draft law defines the beneficial owner as the individual who owns or “ultimately controls” a legal person, through shares, quotas, voting rights, capital participation or “control through other means”.

For structures with several intermediate companies, the draft provides for tracing indirect ownership at all levels. The participations in each link of the chain must be multiplied, while the results of different chains are summed.

The text requires that this assessment takes into account “all quotas/shares at every level of ownership”. When the shareholder of an Albanian company is another legal person, the entity must follow the structure up to the individual at the end of the chain and retain the documents on which the calculation was based.

The draft law also addresses cases where control does not arise solely from the capital percentage. The new definitions include management and supervisory functions and agreements that may give a person influence over decision-making.

The draft defines “formal appointment agreement” as the contract where one person instructs another to act on his/her behalf, for example as director, shareholder or founder.

For the identification of real control, agreements between partners, powers of attorney, management contracts and acts showing who appoints or instructs the managers may become important. For non-profit organizations, the ultimate effective control is related to the person who determines the decisions or controls the election, appointment and removal of the majority of the decision-making or executive bodies.

More detailed rules are also set for trusts and similar legal arrangements. For these structures, the settlor, trustee or fiduciary, protector, beneficiaries and any other individual exercising ultimate control must be identified.

The register must also contain data on the founding act, purpose, administered assets and the place from where the arrangement is directed. The declared information will not remain isolated in the register.

According to the draft law, the Beneficial Owners Register must collect data in real time from other state registers, while the National Business Center will be responsible for their administration, processing and storage.

Documentary control becomes important when banks, financial institutions or other obliged entities find that the information in the register does not match the data collected during customer due diligence. In these cases, the company must update the information, if the discrepancy is correct, or confirm the existing data.

The register was created following international demands for more transparency

The Law on the Beneficial Owners Register was adopted in the framework of strengthening ownership transparency and implementing international anti-money laundering recommendations.

In December 2018, MONEYVAL, the Council of Europe body that assesses national systems against money laundering and terrorist financing, asked Albania to improve the effectiveness of the system. In June 2019, the Parliament adopted five laws aiming to address the recommendations of this institution and to strengthen the preventive framework.

FATF, the intergovernmental body that sets global standards against money laundering and terrorist financing, included Albania in February 2020 on the list of jurisdictions under enhanced monitoring, known as the “grey list”. Albania exited this monitoring on 27 October 2023, after FATF assessed that the country had completed its action plan.

In the same period, the legal framework for beneficial ownership was also established. The European Commission reported that the law on the creation of the register was adopted in July 2020, while the register became functional at the end of June 2021, with data from businesses and non-profit organizations.

In June 2023, MONEYVAL assessed that Albania had improved technical compliance with FATF Recommendation 25, which relates to transparency and beneficial ownership of trusts and other legal arrangements.

The European Commission’s 2025 report on Albania also underlined that “The Beneficial Owners Register is functional” but another official Commission document, related to the programming of funding for the Western Balkans, highlighted that despite this, challenges persist in the implementation of anti-money laundering laws and in the full implementation of the register./MONITOR

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In his speech, the head of government said that funding under this initiative could reach up to €1 billion.

Rama said that, in the current period, the better the economic data, the more irritation it causes among citizens.

According to him, even news of an increase in the number of businesses produces the opposite reaction to what would be expected from a positive development. The prime minister said he considers this a meaningful indicator of development.

He argued that this reaction does not show that society fails to recognise progress, but rather that it demands much more and wants it immediately, without caring how it is achieved.

According to Rama, the approach of generations that once attached importance to the path travelled in achieving objectives has changed completely. Fewer and fewer people want to know where the country has been, while the constant mention of the progress made irritates them.

The head of government added that other people’s achievements encourage everyone to seek their own success, while every difference becomes a source of dissatisfaction when patience is required.

For this reason, he said, the initiative is of particular importance. Citizens seek new opportunities and are entitled to demand them from the government, while a relationship of trust is built on expectations rather than achievements.

Rama stressed that expectations shape people’s everyday lives and that the government has an obligation to respond to them in the areas of employment and entrepreneurship by offering more instruments similar to this programme.

He compared the governor’s position to that of the Pope, saying that nobody protests outside the Vatican, but stressed that the government is ready to raise support to €1 billion.

According to the prime minister, the governor has also stated that funds will be increased if necessary. Rama reiterated that up to €1 billion could be made available to small and medium-sized businesses seeking financing, but clarified that applicants must submit a plan, which will be approved by the bank.

He explained that the funds will not be withdrawn directly at the counter. Those with a plan will be offered assistance so that their proposals gain the banks’ confidence. Anyone who presents a plan can apply and obtain a loan of up to €2 million, at an interest rate of 2-3%, Rama said.

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From waiters and maintenance workers to engineers and caregivers for children and the elderly, foreigners are becoming an increasingly visible part of Albania’s labor market.

According to data from the National Agency for Employment and Skills (AKPA), a total of 18,156 employment requests for foreign nationals were approved online for 2025.

Compared with the previous year, their number increased by 43.4%. AKPA said that 14,000 work permits for foreign nationals were issued for the first time in 2025, indicating the high influx of foreigners coming to work in the country.

For 2025, the biggest increase in requests was for employees from the Philippines and India.

18% of the employment requests approved online by AKPA were from the Philippines. Employment from India also accounted for 18% of the total approved online requests.

Approved work permit requests for citizens from Egypt accounted for 15% of the total, while Turkey made up 9%, Kosovo 4%, and Italy 3%.

In 2025, 3,251 work permits were issued for Indian nationals, nearly twice as many as a year earlier, and 3,279 permits for citizens from the Philippines.

Foreign nationals seeking employment in Albania, under the law “On Foreigners,” must obtain a Single Permit, which includes approval for employment + visa issuance + residence permit.

AKPA only approves employment permits online, while visa issuance and residence permits are approved by the relevant institutions.

Therefore, the issuance of a Single Permit to foreigners (residence in Albania for employment purposes) is finalized by the Border and Migration Directorate of the State Police.

Citizens from Kosovo and Italy follow simplified employment procedures.

In 2025, according to State Police data, the number of citizens from Kosovo equipped with residence permits in the country reached 6,076 residents, accounting for about 22% of the total. Compared with 2024, their number increased by 32%.

Unlike other foreign nationals, following the agreement signed between the governments of Albania and Kosovo in 2022, citizens of Kosovo can obtain a 5-year biometric Residence Permit, which also serves as a Work Permit.

The document is obtained through a simplified online procedure and eliminates the need for separate applications or frequent work permit renewals.

For this reason, part of the employment of citizens from Kosovo no longer goes through the same work permit approval procedure by AKPA as citizens of third countries, also affecting the decline in the number of requests recorded by the agency.

Likewise, most citizens from Kosovo and Italy operate their own businesses in the country, and for this reason they do not need to apply for employment permits online.

After Kosovo, the highest number of foreign nationals equipped with residence permits in 2025 was from Italy, with 3,776 people accounting for 14% of the total number of foreigners. Compared with 2024, their number increased by 75%.

Italians, as EU citizens, also do not need employment approval from AKPA. The employer or the individual only makes an employment declaration, and the law recognizes their right to employment under the same conditions as Albanian citizens, except for jobs that explicitly require Albanian citizenship.

According to the legislation “On Foreigners,” after 5 years of lawful and continuous residence, a foreigner may meet the conditions for permanent residence; the document for this permit is replaced every 10 years through an automatic procedure. Long-term resident status is not lost simply because the 10-year card expires.

So, in practice, an Italian citizen does not apply every year for an employment request, unlike citizens of countries subject to labor market controls. But they may need to renew their residence permit according to the term of the contract, until they obtain permanent residence. / Monitor

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