Blerim Çela: “If people lose money, that has nothing to do with the state” The state obeys the IMF. A moneylender disappears. Clients in court demand their money

At last, the state has taken its first step against the world of usury—a step which, in any case, cannot help but cause a period of anxiety among both depositors and the firms themselves. Yesterday, a group of DP deputies in the Economy Commission called for the drafting and approval of a bill to establish an extraparliamentary commission of experts, whose mission would be to supervise the activities of rentier firms that collect money by offering high interest rates. The call to establish such a commission, beyond the role it would play in creating greater transparency regarding the activities of these companies and foundations, definitively confirms that reports of concern by the IMF, or by some other international financial institution, about the phenomenon of usury were indeed well-founded. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for the state to take such a step, at a time when high-interest borrowing has been proceeding normally for four years; indeed, this has caused the number of depositors to increase geometrically, turning deposits into a nationwide activity. The creation of a non-governmental, extraparliamentary body to assess whether the activities through which rentier companies and foundations secure high returns for depositors are legal or illegal is the state’s most suitable solution for freeing itself from the weight of responsibilities concerning a vital issue for Albanians. Thus, with the proposed commission, the state neither falls out with the usury firms nor misses the opportunity to present itself as having clean hands before representatives of the foreign financial world, telling them: “There, I’m dealing with the matter you were concerned about.” Since the commission will not be a state body, considering the experience so far, and above all given the sensitivity of the “usury” issue, the greatest likelihood is that the commission’s findings will be delivered on the Greek calendar. This is primarily because the state clearly understands that whatever kind of damage it might cause—even if it were to control the damage and the way it is handled—to the depositors, who can now be said to be countless, would ultimately mean shortening the life of the government. But it cannot be ruled out that, like a good many non-governmental bodies or non-state commissions, the “usury” commission will also act according to instructions and orders from the top of the state pyramid, making a remotely controlled distinction among the rentier companies. In this respect, by establishing the commission and putting it to work, the state creates a certain panic among the managers of these companies, who know better than anyone how the law is applied in Albania. In such cases, when nothing gets beyond the bounds of formalities, someone has to be made a victim. This will make company and foundation managers willing to avoid turning their backs on the state. KJ

Brazil photo REUTER Brazil — photo REUTER

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Yesterday at 15:45 at the “EuropaPark” hotel in Tirana, MP Azem Hajdari, president of BSPSH, elected by the extraordinary conference in Durrës, met with an important diplomat from the American embassy in Tirana. When questioned by a journalist from “Koha Jonë”, Hajdari and the spokesperson for the American embassy confirmed that they had met, but gave no further explanation beyond the response: “We met only to talk.”