What changes for traders and buyers A tax receipt is coming for everyone ANDREA STEFANI TIRANA — Another revolution is soon to take place in the commercial and services sectors. Cash registers and tax receipts will accompany all commercial activity in Albania, under a government bill. Following the introduction of free-market mechanisms in these activities, the focus is now on better administration and more effective control of the taxes arising from them. To this end, under the government-approved bill “On the documentation and keeping of accounts for tax purposes,” traders and buyers will have cash registers, receipts and tax invoices as equally indispensable intermediaries alongside money. The bill, modeled on the Italian-French version and expected to be sent to Parliament very soon, will extend its authority to every production, trade, manufacturing and service activity, including the liberal professions. For all individuals and private or state legal entities, a specified condition for carrying out these activities will be the issuing of tax invoices and receipts and keeping them for a designated period. The law provides for a fine of up to one hundred thousand lekë for anyone who evades this rule. Implementing this new documentation system makes it necessary to install electronic cash-register machines. Their import, distribution, installation and operational inspection will be carried out under instructions approved by the Ministry of Finance and Economy. Cash registers will be purchased through tenders, with bids solicited from foreign companies. Since it is impossible to equip all units with these devices immediately, the rollout will be gradual. By the beginning of next year, 5,000 cash registers will be installed, officials at the Accounting Directorate of the Ministry of Finance and Economy told the Gazette. For anyone who tries to avoid installing cash registers or uses devices other than those designated, the bill provides for suspension of the business license for up to sixty days. Any attempt to falsify measuring devices will be punishable by imprisonment for up to three years. Buyers, too, will have obligations. Getting a receipt or invoice from the seller will no longer be a matter of choice. For each violation, a buyer may be fined up to fifteen lekë. Consumers must therefore learn to benefit from all the advantages offered by such a system, including more accurate recording of household expenses. Until now, tax administration has been based on accounting documents kept by various production and trading entities. But this documentation has been insufficient for formulating an accurate tax policy and has sometimes become a source of misunderstandings. The bill in question, through the provisions it introduces, aims to fill this gap. A cash register in a shop

Border incident EDMOND LAÇI GJIROKASTËR — A new incident on the Albanian-Greek border. The event took place at the Kakavijë crossing point in Gjirokastër, where dozens of members of the minority from this border village sought to protest in front of the Greek customs post. The reason, according to them, was the mistreatment of six fellow villagers, including the village head of Kakavijë, by Greek soldiers. Police officers from the Gjirokastër Public Order Branch intervened immediately to put a stop to this tense situation. Only a joint meeting at this border point — attended on the Greek side also by the Mayor of Delvinë — was able to finally calm the incident. “According to the minority villagers of Kakavijë,” Sali Çako, Chief of Police in Gjirokastër, told the Gazette, “six of their fellow villagers had been injured by Greek border soldiers. They had even heard them speaking in Greek as they urged one another to be careful not to let the Albanian minority members escape.” According to the same source, by Monday — a day after Sunday’s incident — none of the six Albanian citizens who had been turned back and mistreated had sought medical assistance at Gjirokastër Hospital. Although the Greek border authorities assured those at the joint meeting that they would inform their government, no official Greek account of the incident had been released by Monday.

When feelings defy public opinion They meet, fall in love and want to marry, but... When feelings defy public opinion Fier, love in the old people’s home (the adventure of two elderly people) They meet, fall in love and want to marry, but... SPIRO ILO FIER — At the Fier old people’s home, 65 elderly men and women, forgotten by life, are spending their years in solitude, although many of them have children. Poorly dressed and unshaven, some sat hunched over their lunch, with food running sometimes down their chins and sometimes onto their clothes because their hands trembled as they lifted their spoons. Others sat watching a black-and-white television set on top of a cupboard; its picture shook even more than their hands and, ironically, it only showed RAI-2. It is here that a romantic love story is unfolding. Its protagonists, as in every story set in this environment, are two elderly people: Proletarja Zaho, 43, and Arifi Kadia, 73. Their story became known to the other residents of the home almost a year ago, when a group of elderly residents caught the couple in the act after repeatedly keeping watch on them. Naime Skëndaj, the nurse on duty, tells of this rather unusual story and the harsh reaction of the other residents: “It may seem funny to you, but it caused us a lot of problems. The elderly residents staged a sort of strike, threatening to have the couple expelled for immorality. After a meeting that lasted a long time, the home’s residents’ council declared: ‘Either us or them here.’” The two lovers felt insulted by this reaction. Proletarja, who grew up in the Children’s Home as an illegitimate child, knew how to defend herself well, even getting into fistfights herself. The problem was Arifi, who was given 20 days’ leave to separate him from his beloved. But when he returned, he declared that “with Proletarja he had [??] and wanted to marry her.” They have now announced their intention to marry, but face several difficulties in formalizing the marriage. First, Proletarja needs to obtain a birth certificate, which she has never had in her life. Second, and more difficult, is that the young couple cannot live together in a single room at the home: there are no proper sanitary facilities, and it would set a bad example for the others. This couple, just like young couples, is also suffering from housing difficulties. They have to leave there, but there is nowhere for them to go. Despite all the difficulties, they are happier than many others. “They don’t allow us to stay together inside the home, but nobody can stop us outside. We go out every day and walk around the city,” says Proletarja. “Arifi buys me ice cream and Coca-Cola. What more can he do with the pension of 800 lekë he gets? I wash and iron his clothes because I want him to look well-groomed. We don’t care what other people say. They too should understand that times have changed and that people no longer live as they did before.” In fact, the old people’s home has also begun to change. The nurse on duty tells of aid worth 15,000 dollars that a Dutch charitable association had invested in renovating the home, somewhat improving the residents’ living conditions. “The main problem for us now is clothes,” she says. “Summer is ending, and they can’t get through the winter with just a shirt and a blouse.”

MINISTER OF PUBLIC ORDER, MUSARAJ, MEETS REPRESENTATIVES OF THE EC OBSERVER MISSION — “Our restraint does not mean that we are unable to respond; rather, as a state, we want to be a factor for stability and understanding, not a cause of incidents and increased disagreements.” Speaking about border incidents on the border with Yugoslavia, Minister Musaraj also highly valued the participation of representatives of the EC observer mission. His interlocutor, Major General Pioxhe, in turn thanked him for the conditions created for them in Albania. RESIDENTS OF FIERZA MUNICIPALITY CONTINUE TO MOVE TO THE LOWLAND AREAS — Fierza Municipality has the highest number of people moving to lowland areas in the entire Tropojë district. According to the municipality’s officials, the causes are chiefly economic: the end of assistance, a lack of adequate means of housing, a shortage of drinking water, and the inability to receive pensions, since their homes are largely covered by the lake of the Fierza hydroelectric plant. There are 5,300 residents in this municipality, and the social assistance fund covers only 55 percent of actual needs.

German experts intervene TIRANA — (fa.ba.) — “While the German government is to decide what will happen next to the expired pesticides, Albanians should strengthen security measures at the places where they are stored.” This was the view of three German experts who visited Albania in recent days. The German specialists visited sites where expired pesticides are stored in Bajzë, Shkodër, Durrës, Milot, Fier and Lushnjë. They also studied the possibility of burying some of them in some abandoned [??] in the country or at the Cement Factory in Fushë-Krujë. They will submit their final report on the assessment of the situation to the German government, which will then determine, in cooperation with the Albanian authorities, the specific measures to be taken. Until then, the issue will remain unresolved. “The situation is scandalous,” the German experts said about the conditions at Bajzë Railway Station, where, in addition to leaks, there have recently also been cases of the local population using poisoned containers. They endorsed the appeal made some time ago by Albanian specialists from the Environmental Protection Committee, urging people not to use contaminated containers for household purposes.

Israel is no longer afraid of a Palestinian state Renault and Volvo together for vehicles Football, today in Tirana: Albania–Denmark

Little Egi from Tirana sends greetings to his uncle Vëgjin on the occasion of his departure for Italy today. He wishes him a pleasant trip, kissing him tightly. (Ebrahim Brahja — Tirana) A thank-you to Mr. Sergio Angellilo of Palese di Bari. We thank you, Mr. Sergio Angellillo, for everything you did for me during those ten days when I was in Bari together with another Albanian. He truly is a man with a big heart and is very generous; he thought of us, and especially of me, as if we were his own children. I take this opportunity to send a friendly thank-you also to all the neighbors and family members of Mr. Sergio. With great respect and nostalgia (Ibrahim Brahja — Tirana) I am an Albanian, born on 06/01/1951 in Durrës. I now live in Ravenna with my wife and two children. I came to Italy on 08/04/1991 on my own ship because I was a sailor, and, like all the other Albanians, I settled in Italy. I now work as a mechanic at the city of Ravenna’s Agricultural Association. Besides my professional activity, I have always written, especially poetry. And here is one of my poems in Albanian: My song! Only in you, my song, do I feel myself tremble with feelings aplenty; Only in you does my heart well up, adorned with sweet thoughts, so much so that they are daring, too. Only in you do I feel part of this world, irreplaceable, spirit and mind/ among great happinesses/among great loves/among great thoughts toward freedom. And now I write myself into your verses. And now I write myself into your musicality. So do not leave me, my song/my life. No, do not leave me alone/for I have only you/only with you can I talk; only to you can I open my heart. Ismail Bresku — Ravenna

Looking for a husband through a newspaper notice TIRANA — (fa.ba.) This is a marriage proposal from a 38-year-old teacher from Vlora. The first of its kind in the newspaper’s new experience with personal notices. This new aspect, along with the desire to contribute, even in a small way, to the letter-writer’s noble aims, is worth highlighting. Her writing is quite rare. Until now, requests of an economic nature had arrived, beginning and ending with the hope of gaining some benefit: “I will be an exemplary wife to my life partner, if I can find such a person.” She sends the request directly to the editorial office, somewhat shyly, but nevertheless hoping that someone will read it and get in touch with her. There is just one thing here that not every reader of the newspaper will be able to meet. First, the prospective groom is preferably to be from Switzerland or at least from Italy, although Albanians are not categorically excluded. Second, he must be in a good financial position. The other requirements are easier to meet: good character, attractiveness and education. Moreover, the sector in which her future husband will work does not matter; he may work in the public or private sector, provided there is security. As for the requirement of a good financial position, the young woman does not set a minimum income limit—and this is not very important either—but the maximum age must be 50. For all those interested, we are also listing the qualities of the young woman from Vlora, as described by her herself. “I am serious and honest, attractive, capable, and a good homemaker. I greatly appreciate sincerity and the way of treating everyone well.” Below, the teacher lists her physical characteristics—which, indeed, are something we can vouch for too—height 1 meter 70 centimeters, weight 58 kilograms, black eyes, long black hair and high eyebrows. Anyone interested—and we hope there will be such people—who is keen to find a partner should hurry. We hope to help join an ideal couple in marriage. At least, the requirements put forward by the young woman seem achievable, and the match truly promising.

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