The government will compensate for the new price The state’s monopoly over wheat comes to an end. Here are the reasons that will lead to the latest increase TIRANA — (Fa. Ba.) - The price of bread will rise at the beginning of next month. The news had been circulating for some time. Now, following the first speculation published in the press, there is finally official confirmation. “There will undoubtedly be an increase in the price of bread,” declared AbdyI Sinani, Prime Minister Meksi’s adviser on food issues. Sinani also explained the reasons that compelled the government to make this decision. “Liberalization of the price of wheat will lead to a substantial increase in the cost of producing bread and, consequently, in its price,” he explained. The price of bread, the food most widely consumed by all Albanian families, which holds the European record for daily consumption, has risen several times in line with the stages through which price liberalization in general has passed. Currently, a kilogram of bread in a state-run shop costs 12 lekë, whereas three years ago the same amount cost almost six times less, 2.5 lekë. Recently, private bakeries have also begun operating, selling their products at prices even higher than those in state shops. Now the government’s latest decision to liberalize wheat prices brings the result that many await with fear: a higher price for bread. “Citizens should not be afraid,” the Prime Minister’s adviser replies, “the government will compensate for the increase, so that the current income level of every family is not affected.” A promise that is undoubtedly reassuring, but Sinani did not explain how this would be carried out in practice. In an interview given to the newspaper some time ago, the European Community’s representative in Tirana, Antonio Marchini Camia, stated that Albania was one of the few post-Communist Eastern countries to have implemented the International Monetary Fund’s prescriptions precisely, considering this a good sign for the faster advancement of economic reforms in the country. He added that the EEC would also help the Albanian government cope with this change, which would not be without economic and social consequences. In fact, one of the IMF’s requirements was precisely the liberalization of grain prices—something the Albanian government is now trying to carry out. “The government will relinquish its monopoly over the price of grain, which will be determined solely on the basis of supply and demand. Customs duties on wheat imports will also be removed, in order to bring local prices into line with international ones. The government’s new decision will encourage farmers to increase the production of bread grains,” AbdyI Sinani stressed. The same hope was repeated by the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Petrit Kalakula, before Parliament: “Liberalization of wheat prices will make us interested in encouraging farmers to increase the production of bread grains.” The government has also criticized the price paid to farmers for collecting grain. Currently, a farmer is paid 14 lekë for each kilogram of wheat delivered. According to official figures from the Ministry of Agriculture, the area currently sown with wheat in Albania is about 140,000 hectares—58 percent in the lowland region—compared with 203 hectares sown in 1990. Large areas of land are still left uncultivated while awaiting final privatization. This has happened especially in the Northern and Northeastern regions, where the influence of old customary laws is greater and the tendency to return to the old boundaries is very strong. Over the last two years, a significant decline in grain production has been recorded, and food supplies have been supplemented with grain quantities brought by Europe and other countries as emergency aid. This meant that the price of bread was subsidized for a time by the government, with assistance from international financial institutions. But apparently this cannot continue much longer, and the government has now decided to take this highly responsible step. The socialist opposition reacted immediately, accusing the Meksi government of blindly submitting to the instructions of international financial institutions and neglecting the suffering of ordinary people. Be that as it may, from the beginning of July Albanians will pay a different price for bread. The most important thing is that its taste does not change along with its price.

TIRANA — “I have been in prison for a year and still no investigator has questioned me...” When representatives of the Human Rights Organization met him in Tirana prison, Hekuran Isai, the former Minister of the Interior, protested. The delegates of the international organization took note. They then also visited other prisoners, including several army officers who had tried to escape to Italy and Greece and were imprisoned at the Psychiatric Hospital. The visit continued at Tirana Psychiatric Hospital, where, among others, they collected testimony from two patients who said they had been mistreated. In the photograph, a moment from Hekuran Isai’s meeting with one of the representatives of the Human Rights Organization. This is the first image of him inside the prison since the day of his arrest. The former Minister of the Interior has been accused of abuse of office. Hekuran Isai’s meeting...

in Brindisi “The new pirates” take over the Adriatic They force fishing boats to transport illegal migrants ANGELO SCONOSCIUTO BRINDISI — A real boarding at sea. Using pirate-like tactics, they managed to bring a group of Albanian citizens illegally into Italy; they were immediately discovered and repatriated to the other side of the Adriatic. It is suspected that, on June 8, the 43 illegal migrants aboard the “Jonuz Peja” and the “Hamit Vashko” did not make direct contact with the crews in order to reach Italy; rather, it is highly likely that a criminal organization—suspected of organizing and running a genuine illegal-migrant trafficking operation—forced the fishing-boat crews to take the 43 people mentioned above on board. The suspicions of the Italian investigators began to prove well-founded when the crew of the “Jonuz Peja” gave testimony before the judge for preliminary investigations, Gaetano Buonfrate. The statements are covered by judicial secrecy, but, despite that, according to what has been said and heard, it appears that immediately after their arrest by the Border Police, the sailors—questioned separately and thus with no possibility of comparing their statements—told the judge that an hour after leaving the port of Vlora, while still in Albanian waters, they changed course toward the Italian coast and, after fishing, were approached by three Albanian boats. According to the sailors’ statements, some criminals aboard these three boats fired bursts of gunfire into the air and, threatening to track down and kill the sailors’ children, forced them to take all the illegal migrants accompanying them on board. The crew’s disclosures apparently also mentioned that the migrants had paid sums of money to people from this “organization.” It also seems that later, during the transport of the migrants, the latter threatened the crew as well, after one of the engine-room crew threatened to tamper with the engines to turn back to Albania. The crews of the two fishing boats were repatriated a few days later, but the defence lawyer officially appointed by the Court of Brindisi, lawyer Piero Angelo Perrucci, is now seeking to contact the Albanian embassy in Italy so that it may encourage the case to be dealt with promptly by the Government in Tirana. All this is not intended to shed light on the matter and guarantee complete safety for all the fishermen who go out every day in their fishing boats to fish in the Adriatic toward the Apulian coast.

TIRANA — Two small boxes containing 1,000 12-gauge shotgun cartridges were found among goods brought from Turkey by several Albanian traders. The foreign-plated truck was searched for many hours behind the National “Qemal Stafa” Stadium. The boxes, which had been mixed in among the other goods, were separated and seized by officers of Tirana Police District 1, who organized the search in cooperation with Customs, the Financial Police and the Criminal Police. “We brought these cartridges in this shipment,” says Gëzim Osmani, one of the people responsible for the cargo, “because we have licensed shotguns.” The investigation into the shipment is continuing, although after a final inspection the truck was allowed to leave.

TIRANA — (Pa. Ba.) — It bears the name of the famous American musician Luis Armstrong and is the first Albanian motel. A modest sign beside “Punëtorët e Rilindjes” street in Tirana signals its presence 40 metres farther in. Thus, quite simply, one of the phenomena associated with developed countries’ drivers comes into being. It is a sign that demand for certain quick and practical services has also begun in Albania. Located in the middle of a characteristic Tirana neighborhood, “Armstrong Motel” is closer to a guesthouse with a bathroom, like those more common in the West, than to Western motels. Here you will find peace and quiet, and the mind-numbing noise and bustle of highways are absent. But all the same, you can enjoy the motel. Its owner, Agush Gindra, an electrical engineer who continues to work at one of the regime’s enterprises, has created the entire setting around it. “I made it myself with these hands,” he says, “and I believe I’ve created something beautiful.” There are three rooms with a total of six beds, where for 15 dollars you can spend the night and park your car as well. The owner of the “Armstrong” also provides breakfast. The first customers did not take long to arrive. They are mainly foreigners. For an Albanian, spending 15 dollars on a night’s lodging is still a luxury. “Many come because they like the quiet, family atmosphere we create here,” says Agushi. New ideas have now begun to pulse amid Tirana’s simple services. In front of “Jeromim de Rada” street, where the motel is located, children play, scattered about. Perhaps not all of them, but when they grow up someone will remind them that the simple house with the ordinary door, through which people and cars came and went, was the first Albanian motel. By then, perhaps the owners of the “Armstrong” will have changed hundreds of [??] for Albanian highway bicycles. Didn’t many extraordinary ventures begin right here, in just this way?

Letters from across the sea

Yesterday in Albania Inside Tirana: police discover ammunition A bomb

FIRE BREAKS OUT AT A MILITARY UNIT IN KUÇOVË — Several vehicles, 4 machine guns, ammunition and other military equipment were seriously damaged after a fire broke out at around 21:30 at a military unit in the Kuçovë garrison. According to the spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence, Minister of Defence Xhuldi and the Chief of the General Staff of the Albanian Army immediately went to the scene. They were accompanied by other representatives from the Ministry of Public Order and SHIK. The investigative team, which has not yet completed its inquiries, has not provided further details about the cause of the fire or the actual extent of the damage. ENTRY OF MEDICINES INTO ALBANIA TO BE REGULATED — Following the scandal over expired medicines that had entered Albania as humanitarian aid, a recent decision by the Council of Ministers finally established regulations for their entry. The decision—proposed by the Ministry of Health and Environmental Protection—provides for a strict regime governing the import and export, as well as the production, of medicines. Likewise, no medicine may be imported without the approval of this ministry. The latest measures are explained by the fact that 6 tons of medicines must be destroyed by the Albanian authorities because they have expired. FIRE AT THE FORMER “SHQIPËRIA SOT” EXHIBITION — Only the prompt intervention of the city of Tirana’s Fire Service saved the former “Shqipëria Sot” exhibition from burning down. The flames engulfed one of the exhibition entrance’s main columns at around 20:10, on the night in question. According to [unclear], it happened within minutes, while many people were nearby. “In my opinion it was an attempt by children,” said one of the guards at the building, which has now been turned into a warehouse for goods belonging to various companies. Some of the companies have also investigated the real cause of the fire.

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