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Albanian Times, Vol. 2, No. 5, February 5, 1996From: Albanian Times <AlbaTimes@aol.com>The Albanian Times (by AlbAmerica TRade & Consulting International) DirectoryCONTENTS[1] Berisha Signs Election Bill, Angers Socialists[2] Official Explains Privatization Scheme[3] Former President Ramiz Alia Arrested[4] Government Moves to Privatize Mining Companies[5] Opposition Parties Protest Election Law[6] Bill Would Grant Albania And Others Permanent US MFN Status[7] Albania-EU Agreement Blocked, Officials Say[8] Services Rapidly Privatizing[9] Italy To Support East-West Corridor[10] Albania Too-Site of 24 Hours In Cyberspace Event[11] Albanian,Greek Businessmen Explore Trade In Tirana[12] UNDP Grant Agreement Signed In Tirana[13] Court Upholds Genocide Law[14] EU Officials Offer Albania Closer Ties[15] Albania,Turkey Sign Technical Cooperation Protocol[16] Kadare Is Writing 19th Novel, Paper Says[17] Democrats Said To Modify Draft[18] Greece To Pass To EU Improved Draft On EU-Albania Accord[19] Draft Insurance Law To Go to Parliament[20] Austrians Offer Assistance on Durres Archaeology[21] Albania's Smaller Parties Say Draft Favors Ruling Democrats[22] A Day And A Night In Tirana Costs $126, Survey Says[23] Bildt To Step Up Efforts For Kosovo Autonomy[24] Albania To Discuss Ties With EU[1] Berisha Signs Election Bill, Angers SocialistsPresident Sali Berisha signed an election bill on Saturday, triggering anger among the opposition Socialists who claim the legislation favours the ruling Democratic Party. The law was approved by parliament on Thursday after a brawl caused by the Socialists and the smaller Socialdemocratic Party, forcing a repeated interruption of the heated session. Berisha's signing of the law dampened hopes among twelve opposition parties who had asked a review of the bill. In a strongly worded statement following the signing, the Democrats accused the Socialists for trying "to provoke physical clashes in the parliament." The opposition parties say the system of national election by majority representation would give the Democrats more seats in the parliament. Also they disagree with a provision of the law authorizing the state to appoint the heads of local election commisions. The small Republican Party, a former ally of the Democrats but who joined the opposition in opposing the legislation said it would ask President Berisha to propose an amendment to the law.(Albanian Times, February 3)
[2] Official Explains Privatization SchemeAlbanian officials said they plan to privatize a number of large enterprizes during 1996, but some of them will continue to receive subsidies by the state, Koha Jone reported on January 3. Grigor Dhaskali, head of Enterprize Restructuring Agency (Agjencia e Ristrukturimit te Ndermarrjeve) told the daily that a series of state run companies are being privatized, among them a wool processing factory and a brick factory in Tirana, a knit-wear factory in Korca and a paper factory in Lezha. Studies have been conducted for most of the enterprises, determimin the way of their privatization, Dhaskali said. Nine more enterprises are targeted to become share-holding companies during 1996. However some large companies, such as the Superphospate Factory and the Bitumen Extracting Company will continue to be owned by the state in order to hold down a variety of import prices which would go up rapidly if there are no locally produced goods to compete with them, Dhaskali said. A certain amount of subsidies in this case would be economically beneficial, he added. Part of the larger enterprises should be privatized only when strategic investors have been found, Dhaskali said.(Albanian Times, February 3)
[3] Former President Ramiz Alia ArrestedFormer communist president Ramiz Alia was arrested on Friday night accused of crimes against humanity, international media reported. The charges raised by a group of so-called intellectuals include shoot to kill orders and other allegations. Alia has been blamed for ordering border guards to shoot at anyone who tried to escape to the West, despite a 1990 law that no more considered defection as high treason. Alia has also been charged with instigating conservative army commanders in February 1991 to reverse the situation created after a huge pro democracy demonstration in Tirana, when the communist regime was on the brink of collapse. Alia's name has been linked with the killing of 4 pro democracy protesters in Shkodra in April 1991. Alia, a hand picked successor of former dictator Enver Hoxha, resigned in April 1992, after the opposition Democratic Party swept to victory in national elections. This is Alia's second arrest. Last year he was released after serving prison time for abuse of public office. (Albanian Times, February 2)
[4] Government Moves to Privatize Mining CompaniesAlbanian government is moving to privatize 14 small sized mineral extraction companies. The form of their privatization will depend mostly on their size, ATA said. For larger enterprizes, the participation of foreign strategic investors with an established name and sufficient capitals would be sought. But difficulties in finding such investors, have delayed their privatization, ATA said. Mid sized enterprizes would be privatized by turning them into public companies with the participation of both strategic and non-strategic investors. Small enterprizes will see their privatization through convertion into public or limited liability companies. The 14 companies targeted for privatization operate mostly in coal and bitumen extracting. The government has also established a set of regulations for the classification of enterprizes. In chrome extraction, a company is considered large sized if its geological reserves exceed 380,000 tons and small sized with under 160,000 tons. For copper ore extraction, the figures are 24 million and 4,000 respectively. The quality of minerals and their location is considered a secondary factor in establishing the category, ATA said. (Albanian Times, February 2)
[5] Opposition Parties Protest Election LawTwelve Albanian opposition parties made a strong protest on Friday against the new election law passed by Parliament the day before. The parties claim the new legislation favors the ruling Democratic Party and must be modified. The new law, was passed by the majority democrats amid the anger of the socialists who form the second largest group in Parliament. The opposition's main complaints concern parts of the legislation authorizing the state to appoint the heads of local election commisions. In a statement, the parties opposed a provision of the law, granting the President the right to decide the geographical division of constituencies. The parties have asked the President not to sign the legislation. The Democrats say they did consider the opposition complaints and modified the draft sufficiently prior to its approval by the Parliament.
[6] Bill Would Grant Albania And Others Permanent US MFN StatusA bill to permanently grant U.S. most favoured nation trade (MFN) status to Albania and 16 other countries that now need annual approval by Congress was introduced on Thursday by an Illinois Republican. The other countries include Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, China and Mongolia. ``Passage of this legislation would allow American exporters to fully compete in these countries and make long-term commitments without worrying that the U.S. government might pull the rug out from under them,'' Representative Thomas Ewing said in a statement. (Albanian Times/Reuter, February 1)
[7] Albania-EU Agreement Blocked, Officials SayEuropean Commission spokesman told reporters on Thursday that current economic conditions in Albania were blocking a European agreement with the country. The EU ambassador in Tirana, Elio Germano also was quoted by daily Gazeta Shqiptare on Thursday as saying that despite the reforms, Albanian economy is still too fragile to support an immediate association agreement with the European Union. Noting that ties with Albania have strengthened since 1992 when a trade and cooperation agreement was signed, Germano said an association agreement at this time would be premature because the EU would have to offer Albanian products a regime that would favour it over other countries. The Commission has decided to review Albanian progress next March, accoring to Germano. Earlier, an Albanian delegation headed by foreign minister Alfred Serreqi held discussions in Brussels with EU Commissioner Hans van den Broek and the Italian foreign minister Susanna Agnelli.(Albanian Times, February 1)
[8] Services Rapidly PrivatizingMore than 90 percent of services in Albania have been privatized and the process is moving rapidly, the Ministry of Construction and Tourism said. The services yet to be privatized are mainly located in the remote areas of the country, officials said. Apart from trash collection and funeral services, other services such as road maintenance and water supply is heading toward privatization too. A World Bank program is funding private efforts to improve the quality of water supply system which experts say needs urgent rehabilitation.(Albanian Times, February 1)
[9] Italy To Support East-West CorridorItaly has announced its support for the construction of an East-West corridor extending from Albania, through Macedonia and Bulgaria, to Turkey, Makpress said. The intention was expressed by the Italian President Oskar Luigi Skalfaro in a letter to Bulgarian President Zelju Zelev. The two presidents held a meeting attended by the ambassadors of Italy, Albania, Macedonia, Turkey and the acting us ambassador to Bulgaria. The implementation of this project will be of greatest priority for Rome during the six months period of its presidential mandate in EU, Italian Ambassador Stefano Rastrelli said after the meeting. A US financial assistance of $30 million was also announced.(Albanian Times/Makpress, February 1)
[10] Albania Too-Site of 24 Hours In Cyberspace EventAfter several months of preparation, 24 Hours in Cyberspace is beginning its final countdown to February 8th, when 100 of the world's top photojournalists will fan out around the globe, including Albania, to document how the online revolution is changing people's lives. The results will be broadcast over the Internet in real time on February 8th, making it one of the largest photographic events ever, as well as the largest one-day online event to date. Calling Cyberspace "the court of last resort," Lori Urs of Boston, Massachusetts runs a Web site for death-row inmate Joseph O'Dell, incarcerated in Virginia. In decidedly "unplugged" Albania, Victoria Vrana leads Internet workshops during a week-long conference called "Young Women for Democracy." A team of engineers from Boston-based System Engineering is hooking up some of the world's northernmost villages in the Canadian Arctic, teaching native Inuit people how to use the Internet. As the photographers finish shooting on February 8th, their images will be transmitted digitally back to the project's "Mission Control" headquarters in San Francisco. There, a team of 80 editors, designers and programmers will assemble an "instant" World Wide Web site, which will be updated throughout the day as new material arrives.(Albanian Times/Reuters, February 1)
[11] Albanian,Greek Businessmen Explore Trade In TiranaMore than 100 hundred Albanian businessmen on Wednesday ended a two day meeting with their Greek counterparts in Tirana to explore trade and investment opportunities. The conference, the first of this kind, brought to Albania 35 Greek businessmen mostly operating in agriculture, fishing, food, mining and chemical industry. We hope that following the initial contacts, both sides will proceed with specific contracts, Arben Paparisto at the Center for Promoting Foreign Investments in Tirana told reporters. Organizers for the Greek side said they feel a need for more information on each-other's activities and more systematic contacts. Greek trade representatives plan to open in April a Greek Exhibition in Tirana aiming at enhancing cooperation.(Albanian Times, February 1)
[12] UNDP Grant Agreement Signed In TiranaAn agreement with UNDP granting Albania $400,000 for mass privatization was signed in Tirana on January 31. A Finance Ministry spokesman said the grant will be mainly used to support newly privatized firms to draft business plans and conduct feasibility studies. (Albanian Times, February 1)
[13] Court Upholds Genocide LawAlbania's Constitutional Court has upheld a law barring former communist officials from seeking office until the year 2002, international media reported on Wednesday. The review of the law, approved by parliament last November, followed requests by the opposition Socialist and Socialdemocratic parties complaining that the legislation would prohibit many of their leading members from running for office. The court said the law did not violate any of the constitutional principles and that similar laws are already in place in Hungary, Italy and Austria. Wednesday's decision triggered anger among the opposition socialists who called it anticonstitutional and absurd. (Albanian Times/RTSH, January 31)
[14] EU Officials Offer Albania Closer TiesEuropian Union officials offered support for Albania's further integration in Europe in a meeting with Albanian foreign Minister Wednesday. EU Commissioner Hans van den Broek and Italian Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli meeeting in Brussels with foreign Minister Alfred Serreqi praised Albania's economic and political reforms, according to Radio Tirana. The talks focused on establishing closer ties between Albania and the EU in the form of a new agreement. (Albanian Times/RTSH, January 31)
[15] Albania,Turkey Sign Technical Cooperation ProtocolAlbania and Turkey signed in Tirana the protocol of technical cooperation between them. The protocol includes a $70,000 dollar project for upgrading Albanian Telegraphic Agency photo lab into electronic processing system. (Albanian Times, January 31)
[16] Kadare Is Writing 19th Novel, Paper SaysAlbania's most famous living writer Ismail Kadare told the New York Times he is writing a new novel titled "Spiritus." In an interview with Times's David Binder, Kadare says this is his 19th novel since the first in 1963 and that he wrote part of it during his stay in New York. "I felt the mysterious energy of New York. I walked a lot with pleasure. I wrote here more than in Paris, an entire chapter of a new novel," Kadare was quoted as saying. The parts of the story, which is set in the present , are called "Chaos," "Apocalypse" and "Vestige". His last novel, "The Eagle," published this month in Paris by Fayard, plays on the eagle as the symbol of the Albanians and is based on an ancient legend "about a relationship between a man and an eagle" as the author himself explains. "I have a big problem with Albania," Kadare told New York Times. "If you are well known, you have to learn that you can make a mistake toward your people. And therefore I talk in a very precise way. I am obliged to be not free." Kadare said he had no relations with the Government of President Sali Berisha other than to urge repeatedly that the president release his political prisoners, according to the New York Times.(Albanian Times/New York Times, January 31)
[17] Democrats Said To Modify DraftAlbania's ruling Democratic Party is reportedly modifying a controversial election bill that has triggered opposition by the Socialists and other smaller political parties. The Party's Secretary General, Tritan Shehu told reporters on late Wednesday the Democrats are considering changes in their previous draft to allot equal air time to their partners in the run up to the elections. Other changes reportedly include allowing each qualifying party to be represented in monitoring the vote along with government observers. The opposition parties have complained that the draft favours the Democratic Party. The draft legislation is expected to go through a general debate in the parliament on February 1. (Albanian Times, January 31)
[18] Greece To Pass To EU Improved Draft On EU-Albania AccordGreek government decided Tuesday to forward to the European Commission "an improved and broadened draft" for an economic co-operation agreement between the EU and Albania, Athens News Agency reported on January 31. The matter will also be discussed at the ministerial council in March, according to the report. The government urged Tirana to take further steps in safeguarding interests of the Greek minority in Albania, as well as in improving their education conditions, according to ANA. Albania says its Greek minority enjoys full rights including the right to education in mother tongue. After a major clash in 1994, relations between Athens and Tirana began to warm last spring. A new sign of improvement was Albania's decision in mid January to lift visas for Greek citizens. (Albanian Times/ANA)
[19] Draft Insurance Law To Go to ParliamentAlbanian government has drafted a bill that would break the monopoly of the state run Institute of Insurances and would diversify the nation's insurance market. The bill calls for the creation of private insurance companies with capitals of at least 30 million leks ($300,000) each. Foreign participation would not exceed 40% of total assets and voting rights. Foreign partners may only operate from the Albanian territory and through branches established in the country. The draft legislation also contains general provisions on basic regulations concerning insurance activities and supervision of private companies by the state. Experts believe that diversifying the insurance market can hold down costs and encourage investsments. (Albanian Times, January 31)
[20] Austrians Offer Assistance on Durres ArchaeologyAustrian experts have offered technical assistance in managing archaeological values of the Albanian coastal city of Durres. The director of Art History Museum in Vienna, Wilfried Seipel and Austrian Education Ministry official Peter Mahringer who visited Durres last week expressed readiness to start immidiately a cooperation program through which Austria would provide qualified assistance in propagating the city's historical heritage and exposing its archaeological values to potential tourists. (Albanian Times/ATA, January 31)
[21] Albania's Smaller Parties Say Draft Favors Ruling DemocratsIn a round table discussion held Tuesday in Tirana, twelve Albanian political parties rejected a draft law which they fear would favour the ruling Democratic Party in this year's general elections. The parties blamed the Democrats for ignoring the opposition version of the bill. ``The draft openly puts the electoral procedure under the control of the Democratic Party'' they said in a statement. The Democrats have proposed raising the number of directly elected seats to 115 from 100, leaving just 25 mandates to be awarded on a party basis. The draft law would also prevent groups from joining forces to break the four percent barrier needed for parliamentary representation. Opposition groups also criticised a proposed change to vote counting procedures and the system for alloting television air time in the run up to the election. Both favoured the Democratic Party, they said. The opposition Socialists have threatened the creation of a "super alleance" with all the interested parties if the democrats do not modify their draft. Democratic Party leaders have promised to revise the draft, according to Radio Tirana. A final parliamentary debate is scheduled for Thursday. The elections are to be held in late spring but no date has been yet set. (Albanian Times/Reuter, January 30)
[22] A Day And A Night In Tirana Costs $126, Survey SaysBusiness travelers trying to keep down the costs should steer clear of Moscow, Tokyo, Buenos Aires and Hong Kong and head instead for Belarus and Albania, a survey on business travel showed Tuesday. New York ranked as the 25th most expensive destination out of the 114 cities surveyed by the European Union-supported EuroCost-Luxembourg. The study found Russia's capital to be the most expensive city in the world for business travelers with a day and a night costing an average of $543 -- way above the $342 needed in New York. Tokyo was the second most expensive city at $516, followed by Buenos Aires at $468 and Hong Kong at $450. Copenhagen, rounding off the top five, was the Europe Union's most expensive city, costing $427 for a day and a night stop off. A day and a night in Tirana costs $126, the survey said, adding that plenty of deals awaited the truly cost conscious business traveller in Albania. To come up with figures for 114 cities, EuroCost said it collected the prices for a night in a four- or five-star hotel, lunch, dinner, taxi fares, telephone calls, drinks in a hotel bar, laundry of one shirt and a daily newspaper.
[23] Bildt To Step Up Efforts For Kosovo AutonomyCarl Bildt, the man charged with co-ordinating the civilian side of the Bosnian peace, said on January 30 he intended to step up diplomatic efforts to win a return to self-government for the Serbian province of Kosovo. ``My goal is to explore the possibilities of a dialogue aiming at restoring a large degree of autonomy,'' he told a news conference after a meeting of the Bosnia Steering Group. ``I suggested to the steering group, and that was accepted, that we should substantially augment, stregthen and reinforce...the Kosovo negotiation,'' he said. ``Kosovo is a burning issue that needs to be dealt with. The United States did its best to make a resolution on Kosovo part of the Bosnian peace plan, an aim Bildt is now trying to fulfil. (Courtesy of Reuters)
[24] Albania To Discuss Ties With EUAlbanian Foreign Minister Alfred Serreqi is heading a delegation to Brussels to discuss ties with the European Union, a Ministry spokesman said Tuesday. The discussions were scheduled to begin on January 31. Mr Serreqi will meet with Italy's Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli and the EU Commissioner Hans van den Broek. Italy, currently holding the presidency of the European Union has promised to assist Albania in negotiating an association agreement with the Union.
The material was reprinted with permission of AlbAmerica Trade & ConsultingInternational. For more information on ATCI and the Albanian Times, pleasewrite to AlbaTimes@aol.comCopyright (c) ATCI, 1996 |
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