After the astonishing figure of 850 million euros in the privatization tender, Rezar Taçi surprises: I have 51 percent of the company “Vetro Energy”. ARMO owner: Review concession contracts INTRODUCTION/ The boss of “Taçi Oil” appears as the new owner of the state oil company The news We have taken Albpetrol, but the 850 million euros will be paid once certain conditions are met on the government’s side. That was yesterday’s statement by Rezart Taçi, at a press conference, who is the main shareholder of the consortium that was initially rumored to be an American company TIRANE GENC KONDI The winners of the 850 million-euro tender for Albpetrol, at yesterday’s press conference, stated that the final payment of the money will be made after this winning firm and the government review all concession contracts in the hydrocarbons sector. That was the talk in Tirana circles and, unsurprisingly, it was confirmed yesterday at the press conference. Businessman Rezart Taçi, owner of Taçi oil and... continues on pages 2-3

RAMIZ ALIA’S INTERVIEW Pages 22-23 “I Didn’t Get Along Well with Mehmet Shehu” The former communist leader’s account of life in the former Bllok and the coup plotters

A coffee with... BY ANILA BASHA A talk-filled press conference At last we met again. Face to face. I was in the front row in the press conference hall, and you, doctor, were in front of the TV cameras. You seem to have a love and hate relationship, which you sometimes show, at least with me. At times you call me “Mrs. Basha,” (when you don’t like the questions), other times “Anila,” when you think you can clarify something, and that happened at the conference too. “You were very upset by my question about the political prisoners who are now on hunger strike, not so much because of the meaning of the question, but because of the comparison I made about the 20 years each of them spent in prison with the 20 years during which you, doctor, carried the Party of Labour membership card in your pocket. You would have liked to make a comparison with me for those same years, but I was a child then, and even if I had wanted to I couldn’t get into the party. And after the words about the hunger strike, you said some joke about a member of my family who might tonight be able to complete the documentation as a political prisoner (not you, you said, but someone from the family) and you laughed, easing the tension even among the advisers in the room, who were extremely tense about that PPSH membership card issue, and they too started laughing. Sometimes I also smiled at the jokes, but in fact your remarks didn’t faze me at all, and I kept insisting. My insistence,... continues on page 4

The position of the head of the Institute of Crimes of Communism. The strikers are owed 75 million lek AGRON TUFA’S MESSAGE TIRANE BRUNILDA GOROVELLI Agron Tufa, Director of the Institute for the Study of the Crimes of Communism, has come out in support... Page 11

Eliza, the deputy prime minister’s alluring daughter. Dushku, the actress who captivates Tirana Pages 13-20

Page 11 The 16-year-old’s confession: How I lured and robbed clients at home

Page 11 Judge Lir Xhaxja suspended, criminal proceedings imminent

Page 3 Berisha accuses the World Bank over pyramid schemes

Pages 4-5 “We cannot defend the vote, the opposition is not police”

Page 9 Protest over electricity, residents block the road for four hours

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