The new property valuation decision The draft law approved by the Government is expected to enter into force by August TIRANA — From now on, villagers too will pay taxes. Fiscal obligations to the state budget — which will also extend to them — will legally be based on the Draft Law "On the tax on property in the Republic of Albania", which has just been approved by the Government and will be sent to Parliament for approval. Hasan Halili, Minister of Agriculture and Food, explains to Gazeta Shqiptare his views on the value of this draft law. The PD promise not to tax villagers for at least five years is well known to public opinion. Why is this promise not being kept now? "In the 22 March election programme, the PD promised that it would exempt the peasantry from taxes for 2-3 years. The cooperative peasantry began to be privatized in September 1991. From that time until August 1994 — when tax collection will begin — roughly three years will have passed. So the PD is being faithful to its voters within the time frame it promised." What makes it necessary to apply the tax system to villagers? "Making agriculture part of the tax and fiscal system is necessary because a large part of our population — 65 percent — lives in the countryside. Other European countries get their financing from other activities and very little from agriculture, in which only 3-5 percent of the population is involved. In addition, this law will help consolidate property in the countryside. Together with the approval of the draft law on the punishment of land and the draft law on the valuation in securities of real estate — for the purpose of compensation in value for former owners — the conditions for a land market in Albania are being created." How will these taxes and duties be calculated? "The land of Albania is divided into 10 defined classes, based on several criteria such as fertility, composition, whether it is below or above water, distance from populated centers, and others. The amount of the tax will be applied on the basis of this classification. There are good agricultural years, but also bad ones. Will this be taken into account in the taxes and duties assigned to the countryside? "At the moment — since for the first time we have introduced a tax system for the countryside — it is difficult to calculate the production of each villager. Therefore, the basic criterion for setting the tax will be the area and category of the land owned by the villager." Council of Ministers session The most expensive privatization TIRANA — "The criteria for evaluating state property to be privatized or placed in joint ventures, as well as the determination of the rent for state facilities given for use to third parties", is another important decision taken at the last meeting of the Council of Ministers. By dealing with this decision, it aims to avoid the unrealistic valuation of state assets that are privatized or placed in joint ventures, as well as the calculation of rent levels for state facilities. The decision foresees the definition of more realistic concepts in the valuation of state property, reducing the value of the objects so that it comes as close as possible to the current market value in the country. Its implementation will curb requests to buy immovable state assets at a much lower price than those currently being built. From now on, the value of immovable properties (buildings) that are privatized or that will be included as part of the Albanian capital in joint enterprises will no longer be adjusted on the basis of the consumer price index — which in fact was a paradox dictated by partly objective factors — but on the basis of the price of the raw materials used to build them. However, in order to encourage privatization in the most disadvantaged areas or cities, the decision provides for the sale of objects at lower prices. An. St.

The former Director of the Privatization Agency speaks TIRANA — "I did not resign, but I was dismissed from my post," Artan Hoxha, former director of the National Privatization Agency, explains to Gazeta Shqiptare. Hoxha — the new minister in the Meksi Government — for more than a year and a half held one of the most important posts in this Government: the Ministry of Trade and the Economic Environment, by choice. In November 1993, after the restructuring of the three ministries, he was left as the only minister without a post. After that, he was assigned the role of Director of the National Privatization Agency, another key point in the reform led by Meksi. But two months later, Hoxha was dismissed from this role and assigned a new task, which he does not accept. "I was expecting this decision," he tells Gazeta Shqiptare, without giving any further explanation. What are the reasons for your dismissal? "Everyone should have the right to choose their own collaborators." Is this also a consequence of being removed from the ministerial post? "There is no room in the country today for any kind of persecution." You submitted a report on the privatization strategy, which was made public later. What were your proposals? "I presented a complete project for the development of privatization methods, in which I proposed: full opening of the privatization process in all categories of enterprises, the use of securities, the simplification of many valuation and sale procedures, and the elimination of bureaucratic procedures that had taken up to 8-9 days, based on 3 main principles: shifting the initiative for privatization from the state to the citizen; a fast and deep privatization; and the implementation of social policy in privatization. In support of this platform, I also completed the draft laws and draft decisions necessary for its implementation, which would regulate the very way the problems of privatization are handled today." What are these shortcomings? "They are the ones everyone knows about: privatization takes time, and it is slow. Now decisions are made by the bureaucracy. The initiative does not belong to the people; it is the state that decides." Now you have left state functions. Will you continue political activity? "I am a member of the PD National Council and I will continue to be one." Are you thinking about the future of the PD? "I believe that Albanian citizens will know how to properly assess what the PD has done and will do." And now what will you do? "The ways of the Lord are inscrutable." Ar. Me. In the photo, Artan Hoxha, former Minister of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations and former Director of the National Privatization Agency

During '93 in Albania, 40% of the electricity was "lost" TIRANA — Electricity theft is continuing again. Now it is not only citizens, but also various private companies. An inspection carried out these days in Tirana by the branch of the Electricity Use Inspectorate was able to identify several cases of irregular use of electricity by many private entities. For this reason, the staff of this Inspectorate have imposed fines on the owners of these units — Lemon SIAE company, Horoskopi restaurant and Diplomat hotel — reaching up to 50,000 lekë. In addition, many fines — in the amount of 10,000 lekë — have also recently been issued to many families of citizens who have illegally used electricity. However, this is not the first time that the control authorities have identified this phenomenon. What is worrying is that the illegal use of electricity is still continuing and has not been stopped. According to some data released these days, the Ministry of Energy — during 1993 — more than 40 percent of the energy entering the country. This phenomenon, widespread in Albania especially in recent years, is linked to some extent — according to specialists — to the great demand for electricity use. This "hunger" for current — during '93 electricity consumption was four times greater than in 1990 — is the result of the very widespread production of household electrical appliances. But now electricity is used not only for cooking; for most families it has become one of the sources of heating. This situation — according to specialists — cannot be sustained; in fact, implementing heating with electricity is impossible. This would require colossal investments, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. At present, no country in Europe uses electricity for heating. p. re.

TIRANA — Four months’ imprisonment for Petro Dhimitri, former director of the "Demokracia" printing house. This is the decision of the Tirana Court, which found Dhimitri guilty of the criminal offense of "forgery of official documents". Immediately after the trial — on Monday, 24 January — Dhimitri was released, since the four months of house arrest had been counted as time already served. The thirteen witnesses of Rrapi did not appear at the trial, but the Court, with Dhimitri’s consent, decided to consider their testimony, given during the investigation, valid. (e. r)

The footballers’ storage room is robbed TIRANA — An unexpected defeat for the Partizani footballers. But this time it is not about any negative result on the green pitch, but only a "loss" to the robbers. On Monday morning, the club’s officials informed the competent authorities about a serious theft in the Football Club storage room. All this happened just as they had begun discussions about finding civilian goalkeepers, who were supposed to do the job that until yesterday and before had been carried out by active soldiers at the Ministry of Defense. "The theft is quite significant," Sulejman Starova, Partizani coach, tells Gazeta Shqiptare. "Inside this storage room were all the sports materials used for the smooth running of our team’s football activities." According to him, almost all the sports equipment in this facility was Italian-made, brought to Albania by Partizani’s sponsor, "Apaso". The exact value of this robbery has not yet been calculated, because various measurements of the objects are being carried out by the relevant specialists. The robbers — according to the club officials — will find it quite difficult to cover up their authorship, since all the materials are marked with the "Partizani" sign. Investigations are still ongoing. (d. l.)

A mandatory measure for new owners A special proposal from the Ministry of Health TIRANA — From now on, all venues will also have toilets. Starting this year, anyone who wants to open a venue — a bar, brewery or restaurant — must include a toilet for customers in the plans as well. In the local license issue — Kujtim Zazo, specialist in the Hygiene and Sanitary Inspectorate sector at the Ministry of Health, explains to "Gazeta Shqiptare" — we have thought it necessary to involve the owner of this premises as well in the venue. At present, the overwhelming majority of existing venues in Albania have no toilet intended for customers. Although there is a regulation that provides for it, this has not been implemented so far. The Ministry of Health is also seeking support from local government bodies for the practical implementation of this duty. Precisely to make this requirement possible and more necessary, it has concluded that the only way was compulsion. So, if you want to open a venue, you must also accept the presence of a toilet. Ar. Me.

ALBANIA AND BULGARIA: COOPERATION AGAINST INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM Fight against international terrorism, illegal trade and trafficking in drugs, psychotropic substances, against organized crime, against illegal financial operations involving large sums, dirty money and smuggling: these are the objectives of an agreement signed in Sofia between the Ministries of Internal Affairs of Albania and Bulgaria. Viktor Mihajllov, the Albanian Minister of Internal Affairs, was also received by Aleksandër Meksi, Prime Minister of Albania. THE EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT OF ALBANIAN GIRLS IN CYPRUS IS BROKEN The hours are up! [?] it is now in the hands of the government and groups dealing with the issue of Albanian girls going there on work visas. Tashë? Frashëri, Director of Emigration in the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, explains the reasons for the termination of the contract between the Albanian company and the Cypriot company "Al Demiragh and Sons LTD". According to him, 85 girls who had been employed at a company have now returned home to Albania, while 27 others had refused to return. "This company has seriously violated the contract in terms of pay, housing conditions and — recently — even the food for the Albanian workers," Frashëri told ATSH.

Italy, the first agreement between the Northern League and former DC New party alliances in Italy ON PAGE 2 Winter heating with a stove may prove dangerous Carbon monoxide: a killer ON PAGE 3

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