Sarandopulos mocks Meta We got the money; if we want, we’ll leave Page 3

EDITORIAL By Neritan ALIBALI The Prime Minister of Albania is flexing his muscles. Two days ago he publicly threatened to throw the foreign companies working on sections of Corridor Eight out of the country. Failure to meet deadlines, the poor quality of the work and breaches of other contract provisions were the reasons that drove our head of government to shout with his fingers in his ears. In fact, companies such as “Sarandopulos”, “Falcione”, “Be-Ha-Se”, etc. have pushed things so far that even the Prime Minister’s shouting is far too little to get through their thick hides. “Naturalized” as Albanians through their long experience of working in our country, these companies have been sucking the blood of the Albanian Executive for some time. They have long since collected most of the funds allocated for the roads without completing even half of the work on them. That is why these companies do not hear a word, however thunderous the Prime Minister’s threats may be. Indeed, the Prime Minister is shouting in vain, because he is not even capable of terminating the contracts, let alone expelling them from Albania. Given the terms on which our state concluded the contracts with these companies, any termination would leave Albania paying dearly. In other words, the head of government is beating water in a mortar. Or, better still, punching the air, merely fanning the flames of corruption and the plunder of Albania. And since the Prime Minister is incapable of forcing the foreign companies to carry out the work in accordance with their contracts, it remains for the roads of our beloved Homeland to be built by order of the fish.

Tirana Municipality runs out of money

The preparatory phase for the autumn vote has trapped Tirana Municipality in a vicious circle. “We are working vulnerably,” the head of the municipality, Albert Brojka, told “Republika.” Continuing his statement to “Republika,” Mayor Brojka said that they would stop the work if the Government did not pay them. “By Government decision, the cost for each person registered is 7 lekë. So far, it has only been promised, but not a single cent has been approved,” he added. Page 2

He was hiding in Tirana; he had stolen 2.1 million marks The Albanian mafioso who robbed a German bank of 2.1 million marks in collaboration with his German wife has been caught by surprise. Fadil Bytyçi, from Kosovo, wanted by German police authorities for the bank robbery, evaded the German state police and took refuge in Albania. The incident took place two years ago, when Bytyçi and his German wife stole the enormous sum of money from a bank in the city of Dresden, Germany. Page 6

CORRUPTION/Minister Ruka breaks the law Page 4 CORRUPTION/Minister Ruka breaks the law 6 million lekë to register the apartment building Page 4

This street has been left in this condition for 23 days. Citizens have [?] on foot as far as [?] work. The person responsible for [?] a [?] and [?], while trying [?] [?] [sic] [?]. “Sami Frashëri” Street

Breaking news Police officer Kastriot Bruka has been killed. Last night, at around 10:00 p.m., right near the entrance to his apartment building, a person still unidentified by the Police fired three pistol shots at the Criminal Police officer, who had served as an officer in the Durrës district. Just 29 years old, Bruka initially served as police station chief in Laç, then as head of the Criminal Investigation Department at the Durrës police station, and later as a Criminal Investigation inspector, also in that city. After the alert was received, a specialized forensic team arrived at the scene; late last night they had still not managed to establish the motives for the crime. The first suspected lead is “a breakdown in the dealings between people involved in illegal activity and the Police,” and the second is “personal revenge.” Specialists from the Tirana Directorate do not rule out that the crime was committed because of his official duties. Bruka had been relieved of his duties several months ago. Page 6