Conflicting information within the PS about Dokle’s whereabouts The PS ranks were caught by surprise by Namik Dokle’s sudden departure. The news published in “RD” has sparked reactions. Dokle himself must have sent false signals to Parliament about the direction in which he would leave. Thus, yesterday, two members of the PS leadership gave entirely contradictory accounts of the PS deputy chairman’s whereabouts: one of them stated (unofficially) that Dokle was in Has, while the other said Dokle was in Saranda. So, according to two members of the PS leadership, Dokle is both in the north and in the south of Albania. Meanwhile, according to some sources, Dokle appears to have crossed the border altogether and set off for Canada. The reasons are easy to understand.

On the Alia-Dokle-Benc scandal READ ON PAGE 3 Gjinushi will give away the properties Do not slander the Turkish college, gentlemen of “KJ”

After three years of government by the Democratic Party Commitments and their fulfilment The transformation of the centralized socialist economy, which was in a state of collapse, into a market economy was the most important objective of the DP’s economic programme. Today, it is often said that, over the past three years, the achievements in foreign policy and legislation have been spectacular and undeniable. However, an analysis of the economic results shows that the achievements resulting from the implementation and fulfilment of the DP’s programme in the economic field are greater and more decisive. Let us take some examples. In 1992, Albania: —had 730,000 unemployed people; —because of the 80% law and other factors, the country’s production fell by 40%; —around 60% of the state budget was covered by humanitarian aid and donations from abroad. Thus, in the alternative of being or not being independent, if half is taken as the criterion, Albania, in relation to what it produced itself, was dependent on domestic production; 4—to abolish the 80% law, thereby activating production that had been completely paralysed; 5—to liberalize prices, thereby providing a strong incentive for domestic production. So, whereas 1991 was characterized by a 40% drop in production, thanks to these measures 1992 ended with that decline halted. —The following were not achieved as set out in the programme: 1—heating; 2—water supply for the population; 3—energy. The programme states: “We will urgently take care of reorganizing lighting and heating for the population, as well as drinking water, while seeking international assistance; for this reason, we are confident that the situation will improve considerably next year.” Comparing this objective with its fulfilment, it can be said that our efforts and achievements have not been at the level of our promises. Two points should be emphasized here: FIRST, on the economic front, the difficult legacy left by the system In pursuit of these objectives, over the past three years the DP’s programmes have achieved: 1—a reduction in the state administration from 267,000 people in 1992 to 166,000 in 1995. Today Albania has one of the least bloated administrations in Europe. 2—the elimination of subsidies for all unprofitable enterprises, from 2.9 billion lekë in 1991 to zero after 1993 (except for KESH); 3—the introduction of a tax system; 4—the establishment of strict discipline in collecting revenues; 5—rigorous parliamentary oversight of the budget; 6—the budget deficit, which was 44% of GDP three years ago, will be 7% this year; 7—inflation, which was at an annual rate of 400% three years ago, was 15.8% last year, and is expected to be below 10% this year; 8—economic growth was achieved in two consecutive years, at 11% and 8%, respectively; 9—citizens’ total deposits increased several times over the three years. They stood at 3,382 million lekë at the end of 1991 and reached 18,375 million lekë in V. Full liberalization of the economy This is a vital, major objective of the DP’s programme to transform the centralized economy into a market economy. To achieve this objective, the DP programme calls for: 1—replacing bureaucratic management with enterprise activity; 2—placing enterprise activity on the basis of state-buyer relations; —the country, because of the 80% law as well as other factors, suffered a 40% fall in production; aid and alms arriving from abroad. Thus, in the question of to be or not to be, to what it produced itself, stood on the dark side of history. Under these circumstances, the DP’s electoral program set out: —The market economy, based on free initiative and private property, as the economic system for Albania. This decision was historic for us and for the generations to come. “In less than three years, Albania—the country of total collectivization—according to assessments by serious international economic and financial institutions, ranks favorably compared with other countries that have emerged from dictatorships, in terms of the indicators used to assess the market economy. Thus, after three years: 1—over 55% of GDP is produced in the private sector 2—inflation has fallen 25-fold compared with 1991 3—for two consecutive years, Albania has had the highest economic growth in Eastern Europe. The program further emphasizes that ‘the complete transformation of the Albanian economy into a market economy, capable of competing in the market and integrating into the European economy and becoming integrated into it, takes time. But many important changes can be achieved more quickly.’ Albania achieved all this by rigorously implementing the DP program. Thus, to carry out economic reform, the program sets out: 1—Resolving the food and energy emergency and the population’s water-supply emergency, as well as carrying out hydro-sanitary reconstruction; —urgent measures are being taken to secure food supplies. The previous government had left the country and the Albanian market without basic foodstuffs and medicines. Oil, flour, sugar, soap and the most essential medicines were unavailable in the market, and this was an act of extreme [?] government ... . Hunger and disease had engulfed the country. Under these circumstances, the government that emerged from the elections managed, within three months: 1—to secure free aid of around 80 thousand tons of food and medicines from the European Union and Italy; 2—to regulate the use of this aid, preventing its misuse as had happened before; 3—to carry out the distribution of 80% of the land, which contributed to the increase in ...

Letter from German President Herzog to President Berisha These days President Berisha received a letter from the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Roman Herzog, in which he wrote, among other things: “Upon my return to Bonn, I would like to thank you once again, from the bottom of my heart, as well as your wife and the Albanian people, for the exceptionally friendly reception you prepared for me and my wife. This visit was for me an important personal event and, at the same time, a historic occasion. It was my wish to document German support for the reform process in your country.” Press and Information Office of the President

Yesterday at midday, President Berisha met Professor Antonio Martino, Foreign Minister in Berlusconi’s government, who was accompanied by the Italian Ambassador to Albania, Paolo Foresi. President Berisha praised the fact that, despite administrative changes, Italy always considers relations and cooperation with Albania a priority. Mr. Martino, chairman of the Italian interparliamentary group, praised Albania’s achievements in reform, particularly in the field of legislation, and assured President Berisha that Albania has, and will always have, Italy’s support. Press and Information Office of the President

Press conference “The aim of the health policy pursued so far by the Ministry of Health, ...”

Reception at the seat of the People’s Assembly Yesterday, the Chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, Mr. Pjetër Arbnori, received the Political Director of the Council of Europe, Mr. Hans Peter Furer. They discussed the fruitful cooperation to date between our Parliament and the Council of Europe, as well as programmes for expanding future cooperation. From what was once the place of dictatorial orders, and to everyone’s amazement, Mr. Arbnori said, Albania is now a country of laws, although it is important that they be properly implemented. The Council of Europe’s Political Director, Mr. Furer, expressed the highest regard for the laws and codes approved so far by the Albanian Parliament. They also discussed Albania’s admission to the Council of Europe as soon as possible. Mr. Malasi receives the ambassador of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Teodocevski Also yesterday, the Vice-Chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, Mr. Tomor Malasi, received the Ambassador of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in Tirana, Mr. Teodocevski, who stated, among other things, that Albania is now an open country and can attract foreign activity for its continued development. Also recalling the high-level visits between our two parliaments, Mr. Teodocevski requested information about our parliamentary experience concerning the rights of nationalities, ethnic groups and languages. Mr. Tomor Malasi, for his part, stressed that Albania, as a new democracy, has followed the example of the West’s most advanced democracies, completely overthrown the Stalinist constitution and dictatorship, and faithfully implemented the Helsinki Charter, the OSCE agreements, those of the Council of Europe, and the Copenhagen commitments on human and national rights, which apply to every country and parliament. It was agreed that relations between the two parliaments should become more intensive and, more specifically, that specialists should share experience of mutual interest. (Continued on page 2)

These are two major objectives that the Democratic Party’s program sets for the development of the market economy in Albania. To implement these objectives, the following measures have been taken: 1—general liberalization of prices and their regulation by the market; 2—the establishment of a basket of goods for several basic products and their subsequent liberalization, while compensating citizens for the difference between the prices achieved by the market; 3—a fiscal system and customs tariffs have been applied that fully favor the free market. IV. Achieve currency convertibility as soon as possible This was a long-standing major objective of the DP’s program for the development of the market economy. According to the program, achieving it required: 1—liberalizing the exchange rate; 2—liberalizing export-import relations; 3—creating sufficient foreign currency reserves; 4—reorganizing and modernizing the banking system; 5—linking the lek to the ECU. After three years, the following have been achieved: 1—the establishment of the exchange rate; 2—our currency, the lek, has become stable and is practically convertible; 3—the lek enjoys the full confidence of Albanian and foreign citizens; 4—the liberalization of export-import relations; 5—the increase in foreign currency reserves from zero to three months of imports; that is, in accordance with the agreement set out with the IMF; 6—the approval of the law on the banking system; 7—the operation of the Central Bank has been further improved; 8—the opening of two joint banks and one private bank; 9—the issuance of treasury bills; The following items in the DP program have not been achieved: 6—the halt of industry and the worsening of problems; 7—inflation, which had been last year, and it is hoped that it will be below 10% this year. 8—economic growth was achieved for two consecutive years, at 11% and 8%, respectively; 9—the citizens’ stood at 3,382 million lek at the end of 1991 and reached 18,375 million lek at the end of 1994; 10—customs revenue increased 3.8-fold from 1992 to 1994. 11—exports and imports increased 3.2-fold and 2.7-fold, respectively, from 1992 to 1994. VI. Rapid privatization of the economy This is the most important objective of the DP’s program for transforming the centralized economy into a market economy. In the DP’s electoral program, privatization was envisaged as a simple, rapid process to be carried out through securities within a period of 4–5 years. To date, through a series of decisions and laws, around 70% of national wealth has been privatized. Today, private property is the dominant form of ownership in Albania. The following have been privatized: 1—land 2—residential homes 3—transport 4—services 5—agricultural machinery 6—more than 5,000 small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as tens of thousands of other assets. The following items in the program have not been privatized: 1—natural resources; 2—banks; 3—telecommunications. But now everything is ready to begin, and this year is nearly here; through securities, and as the program envisages, the privatization of medium-sized and large enterprises will be carried out. Thus, mass privatization with securities production; was covered by humanitarian of to be or not to be, act of extreme [?] government ... . ... Comparing this objective with its implementation, should be emphasized here: FIRST, in economic terms, the bitterest legacy left by the communist system, and its greatest punishment of the country through total collectivization, was leaving the country without infrastructure and effectively placing it among the countries of the Third World. Albania was indeed declared electrified, but on the other hand, all electrical installations and the distribution network had been designed only for basic lighting and not for other purposes. Today, Albanian electricity consumption varies by region and is 5–15 times higher than in 1991. Thus, rapid development has increased the demand for electricity many times over and has left the installations and the network as a whole incapable of handling the increased load. The situation is similarly dire with the water supply. Tirana and many other Albanian cities had for many, many years received water only according to a schedule, while today the demand for water supply has risen sharply over these 2–3 years. SECOND, a new electrical facility and hydroelectric power stations would cost no less than billions of dollars, and this cannot be achieved in 3, 5 or even 6 years. Over these three years, around 17 regional water-supply systems have been built or are under construction, and a series of serious water-supply projects in Tirana, Durres, Korçë, Kavajë, Kume, Kukës, Kruje and Shkoder have been implemented and are under way. In this area, improvements in energy supply are needed and are being made to improve the population’s supply of electricity and water, because these are decisive factors for the development of Albanian citizens. II. Stabilization measures to fight the economic crisis and inflation To fight the economic crisis and inflation, the DP program identifies the following as the main stabilization measures: 1—reducing the state administration; 2—eliminating wasteful subsidies; 3—introducing taxes and encouraging free initiative; 4—strict control over revenue collection; 5—strict parliamentary control of the budget; 6—control over the printing of money; 7—balancing the budget. ...

Cikuli Optimistic About Healthcare Reform “The aim of the health policy pursued so far by the Ministry of Health through its institutions was to remain as close as possible not only to the sick, but also to the healthy,” declared the Minister of Health, Maksim Cikuli, at a press conference held yesterday morning in one of the Ministry’s premises. the Ministry of Health through its institutions was to remain as close as possible not only to the sick, but also to the healthy,” declared the Minister of Health, Maksim Cikuli, at a press conference held yesterday morning in one of the Ministry’s premises. Cikuli, who has been heading this department for a year and a half, focused on the main directions of healthcare reform. Minister Cikuli described the primary-care sector, directly linked to disease prevention for all citizens, as “one and the main objective of the reform.” The rehabilitation of the physical structures of healthcare institutions, which had not been maintained for many years—the inherited, aged and damaged buildings, and the lack of electric heating systems—were considered by Minister Cikuli to be the most ...

DVE carried out the project with the financial participation of the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development), marking the first Merchant Banking operation in this country. The inauguration ceremony of Tirana International Hotel represents a significant political and institutional moment, not only because it is evidence of an important success in cooperation between Italy and Albania, but also because it takes on a ... On Friday, March 24, at 12:00, the inauguration ceremony of Tirana International Hotel, the first international hotel in Albania, was held. Promoted and managed by Di Vincenzo Estero (DVE), the restructuring of the hotel is one of the project-financing operations in this sector. The hotel is now owned by DV-ALBA, an Italian-Albanian joint venture established with private and public capital. (Continued on page 2)

Photograph of the hotel building and the inauguration ceremony.