Albania

This is the Resolution on the unfoundedness of claims about the illegal trade in human organs in Kosovo and Albania, adopted in the Albanian parliament on July 21, 2022, with a request to submit it to the competent authorities, Kosovo Online learns.

The Sanctions Buster

Illustration: BIRN

Slobodan Tesic is reputedly one of the biggest arms traders in the Balkans. He is also one of the most controversial in the region, having been the subject of UN sanctions over violations of embargoes on weapons exports to Liberia for the best part of a decade.

Asked by BIRN whether it saw any issue in the fact prosecutors had not used anti-mafia legislation against Gjini or Shkalla, the Prosecution against Corruption and Organised Crime, SPAK, said it had "no comment on the matter." The law should be applied to both men automatically.

The Albania Institute of Statistics, INSTAT told BIRN that the number of Serbian citizens who entered Albania in 2021 doubled in comparison to 2020.

According to INSTAT's figures, in 2017, 63,785 Serbian citizens entered the country. This rose to 70,878 in 2018 and remained steady at 68,436 in 2019.

The Albanian government has sent an "invitation for consultations" to business representatives on its controversial draft financial amnesty law, announcing a conference in the presence of Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana on July 15, according to a source from the organizations invited to the "consultations".

The geological region that stretches to the North from the Adriatic in the area of ​​Italy and Croatia and descends to the Ionian Sea and Western Greece to the South has yielded discoveries of oil and natural gas deposits.

Exploration by major oil companies is ongoing, while Croatia, Montenegro and Albania have stepped up their efforts with rounds of concessions.

The Kastrati Group has given up a sales contract worth 2.37 million euros to buy 60 per cent of Euronews Albania television and has returned its shares to the station's previous owner, Theodhoro Çami.

On July 6, the parties agreed by mutual consent to cancel the April 11 contract and have no further claims against each other.

An oil well in the Kucova oil field of Albania. Photo: Nensi Bogdani/BIRN

"There are signs that show that we might be near a very very important discovery of oil and gas that will have a large impact not only on the future of our country but will play a role even in the future of energy in Europe," Rama said.

A number of companies with ties to Albania's ruling Socialists are among the biggest winners of public tenders to rebuild homes destroyed by a 2019 earthquake. Residents are still waiting to move in.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (left) and Socialist Party secretary-general Damian Gjiknuri. Photo: LSA

The opposition claims that the scheme would allow criminal to launder proceeds of illegal activities, in a country where money-laundering and organised crime are a serious concern.