NEW LAW/ MORE THAN 1.5 MILLION LEK CANNOT BE KEPT OUTSIDE BANKS HIDAACI: Officials, money under the pillow The Property Inspectorate, Shkëlqim Ganaj: There are officials who keep 400 million lek at home; we are putting an end to the phenomenon. Vasili against it: I consider the study nonexistent By DARINA TANUSHI The High Inspectorate for the Declaration and Audit of Assets has recently revealed that state officials have kept around 50 to 60 million euros in “cash”, undeposited in banks and previously undeclared. This was announced yesterday in the parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee by chief inspector Shkëlqim Ganaj, while the amendments to the law on HIDAACI were being discussed. Under the proposed changes, newly appointed officials cannot keep more than 1.5 million lek in “cash”. All wealth must be documented in a bank. The provision in the law was opposed yesterday by the SMI and by MPs Mark Frroku and Nard Ndoka. “Newly appointed officials declare ‘cash’ amounts of 200-300 thousand euros and then turn them into something else at a later time. As if they had had them in ‘cash’ and were just filling in the process. To prevent this phenomenon, we decided on the obligation that, when they declare them for the first time, they must deposit them in a bank.... Continued on page 5