The latest security report on Albania from the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), a body of the U.S. Department of State, highlights several issues related to the fight against corruption.

According to the report, our country continues to face deep-seated problems related to corruption, organized crime, and impunity for powerful individuals.

According to the report, the establishment of the Special Structure against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) has led to an increase in investigations and prosecutions of high-level officials, politicians, and individuals with economic influence.

However, the document emphasizes that it remains a concern that some officials, politicians, judges, and individuals with strong business interests continue to be able to evade legal responsibility.

“Impunity remains a serious problem. With the creation of SPAK in 2019, the arrest and prosecution of officials committing abuses has increased; however, many officials, politicians, judges, and individuals with strong business interests are still able to evade prosecution. Corruption continues to be a serious problem in detention centers, particularly regarding access to work and special release programs,” the report states.

According to the assessment, corruption affects important areas of state functioning, including the judicial system, public administration, government procurement, and public contract management.

Foreign investors, according to the report, consider the lack of transparency, limited competition, and weak contract enforcement as among the main obstacles to the business climate.

The report also highlights that organized crime remains one of the main threats to security in Albania. Albanian criminal groups are mentioned for activity in drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption, human trafficking, and other forms of international crime.

According to the document, one of the main challenges for Albanian authorities is weakening the influence of these networks and preventing the intertwining of criminal interests with business and public institutions.

The report acknowledges the work of SPAK and other law enforcement structures, but stresses that institutional corruption, lack of coordination between institutions, and limited resources continue to hinder a full crackdown on criminal networks.

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In Monday’s session at the Special Court Against Corruption and Organized Crime (GJKKO), the former head of the Directorate of Administration and Sale of Properties at the Ministry of Finance, Urim Muja, gave his testimony in the “Partizani” case.

Speaking about his career, Muja stated that he had held the position at the Ministry of Finance during two periods, 1992-1996 and 2006-2013. He explained that the role of the institution he represented was to finalize the sales contract, a step that followed immediately after the completed file arrived from the Ministry of Economy.

Regarding the deficiencies noted in the case file’s documentation, the official described them as a common workplace occurrence, adding that the bureaucratic path was the same for all cases. He clarified that once the sales sector signaled a deficiency, the counterparty was simply contacted to provide the missing document, without implying any irregularity.

“My experience at the Ministry of Finance spans from 1992 to 1996 and then from 2006 to 2013, before I became unemployed. My post was director of property administration and sale. Based on the legal framework, we signed the sales contract as soon as the file was forwarded from the Ministry of Economy. This was a completely standard file, like many others, and I am convinced that every step was carried out in accordance with the law,” he stated.

Muja went on to emphasize the routine handling of the file and how minor deficiencies were resolved. “It contained nothing out of the ordinary. I am certain there was nothing strange about it, similar to dozens of other files we handled. When a document was missing, we notified the party to make up for it, just as we did with dozens of other cases. It was a standard process: whenever a deficiency arose, completion was requested. If the party could, they brought it, and that was it.”

Concerning the physical location of the entity in question, the witness was categorical. “I have never gone to see where the former club is located, I have never been there,” he declared.

Finally, Muja also addressed the issue of using treasury bills as a payment instrument, noting that such a practice predated even his time in the administration. He asserted that this financial instrument had been used in other cases as well, always under the light of the law, although he could not recall the specific individuals. “If this file were presented for sale today to our former directorate, they would be legally obliged to carry out the process, without anyone or anything else influencing it,” the official concluded his testimony.

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He made these remarks during a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Agency.

“This decade of work in promoting transparency, integrity and the prevention of corruption represents a valuable contribution to building democratic, accountable institutions and strengthening citizens’ trust.

The fight against corruption requires a comprehensive approach, in which justice institutions, independent bodies, the executive, civil society and citizens act in a coordinated manner and with shared responsibility. In this regard, cooperation between the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council and the Anti-Corruption Agency is of particular importance,” Gashi said.

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According to the EU’s reaction, Gashi’s mandate should focus on ensuring integrity and accountability in the prosecutorial system, as well as on cracking down on high-level corruption and organized crime.

On Tuesday, the acting president, Albulena Haxhiu, signed the decree appointing Zejnullah Gashi as chief prosecutor.

Gashi officially assumed the position today, for a 7-year term.

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Bylykbashi also laid out the links between crime, corruption, and the state. He cited the Balluku case as well as the AKSHI file, where crime has extended into public procurement as well.

Meanwhile, Bylykbashi also mentioned the Aruba file, where the state is placed at the service of transnational crime in money laundering.

Bylykbashi: 19 criminals in parliament. The model was the use of criminals in elections. It has become more sophisticated, while the decriminalization law is also being anesthetized. Convicted individuals are holding on to their mandates. Crime is choosing candidates and bringing them into parliament. We are trying to move toward the voters’ right through direct voting. I prefer the majoritarian list. And the problem I have is that if there is no intervention to cut off the hands of corruption, crime, and the oligarchs, we will see more deputies of this kind. Third powers that would want to have their own megaphone in parliament. They will finance it and they will have it. Through direct voting.

You have a role in this aspect. If it were accidental, it would not be a problem. When they are organized, they become a problem. I understand that this is a heavy burden for SPAK. In the end, the volume of crime, galloping state corruption, and everything happening around us is too great for this filter. We have organized state corruption. The Balluku case is perfect. We have organized crime that exists regardless of the state, and it is also transnational.

The Albanian mafia is the second most dangerous in Europe. They have gone from soldiers to protagonists. Anti-mafia investigation leaders have told me, we do not trust working with the Albanian authorities. I say this responsibly. Those who were speaking were saying something very credible. Information is leaking. We also have crime and organized corruption in elections. Perfect. In Durrës, we have the model. One by one, it produces the moment when the state, through corrupted elections, is used so that the elections are captured. Organized crime alongside the state for money laundering. The Aruba case. We are turning Albania into Albanian Files, all of them are like lights switched on at night that attract the moths of corruption. It makes your work easier.

Here we have Tirana, we are astonishing everyone. A European Parliament fact-finding mission, and we also have organized crime in public procurement. AKSHI. You still have it under investigation. The main gentlemen have already begun. We have reached a stage where we are no longer separating crime from the state. They no longer understand where the evil is coming from. Are we at the criminalization of the state or the nationalization of crime? American Congressman Joe Wilson has proposed an amendment that calls, in a report there through an amendment, for reporting on drug trafficking and corruption in Albania. The Secretary will present Congress with a classified report on the extent of drug trafficking in Albania and the involvement of the state in facilitating it.

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The searches were carried out by decision of the GJKKO, while sources for Albeu.com indicate that during the operation the businessman’s mobile phone was also seized, which is expected to be subject to further verification by investigators.

This development comes as a follow-up to SPAK’s mega-operation, which hit three suspected criminal groups, which according to investigations are suspected of having operated in the field of international cocaine trafficking and money laundering. At the center of the file are the groups linked to Artur Shehu, Artur Koçeku, also known as Luçiano Koçeku, and Alfredo Hamzai.

According to the investigative materials, the proceeds from drug trafficking are suspected of having been channeled into the construction sector, through dubious investments and connections with various businessmen. The file mentions the names of Ilir Shtufi and Orest Sota, as persons through whom it is suspected that money with criminal sources was invested in construction projects.

The investigations have also highlighted suspicions of investments in the Green Coast project in Palasë, one of the most popular resorts on the Albanian coast, owned by businessman Samir Mane.

Mane’s name is mentioned in the SPAK investigative materials, while the search conducted by the BKH in his apartment and offices is seen as an important move by the investigators to verify connections, communications and materials that may be of value to the file.

Sources close to the investigation confirm that during the searches, various equipment and materials were seized, which will be analyzed by SPAK and BKH. The businessman’s mobile phone is one of the material evidences taken for examination, in order to verify communications and contacts that may be related to the case under investigation.

Up to this stage, there has been no public reaction from Samir Mane about the searches carried out at his villa and offices, while SPAK has not yet issued a detailed official announcement about his role in this file.

The searches against one of the biggest business names in Albania further expand the scope of SPAK’s investigations, shifting the focus from criminal drug trafficking groups to sectors where millions of euros derived from criminal activity are suspected of being laundered. /albeu.com/

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