Hotel Tirana A ROOM FOR 100 THOUSAND DOLLARS? — The Austrian firm «Horwarth Consulting» asked for only 9.5 million dollars, whereas «DV-ALBA» swallowed up 17 million dollars — OSMAN SHEHU: «Hotel «Tirana» is a Gordian knot of Albanian politics, which justice must fully untie» The issue of the reconstruction of Hotel «Tirana»—now called, after its «refurbishment», «Tirana Internacional Hotel»—has once again returned to the pages of the press. The pompous reopening ceremony has not been able to dispel the shadows of doubt hanging over the usefulness or administration of the 17 million dollars declared on paper for this reconstruction; nor have its «zajis» windows been able to do so. Hotel «Tirana», which in the days before its «dressing» began, to «swallow» millions of dollars, had provided warm and welcoming services to several ministers in the current government and PD deputies, who stayed there at reduced prices compared with other clients. This was accompanied by a workers’ strike over disagreements with its operators. On the other hand, it seems to have been cooking up intrigue involving the most talked-about senior officials, such as Spahë and Ruli, without sparing Meksi himself. The former Minister of Tourism—the first tourism minister in the Meksi government—was the first to denounce in strong terms the intriguing methods used to finance the reconstruction of Hotel «Tirana», putting the names of the government officials mentioned above at the center of his criticism, along with others outside Albania and even European financial institutions. He also launched the charge that: justice must fully untie». But this knot, apparently driven deep into place, seems to have served the press better than the justice authorities, which in this case too show themselves to be nothing more than levers manipulated by others—namely, those who run the state. Thus, since the end of December and beginning of January 1995, two files have existed for the Albanian public concerning the denunciation over Hotel «Tirana»: the first is the public file of the former tourism minister in the Meksi cabinet, and the second, as we learn, is another file belonging to the State Control Service, following an inspection of the aforementioned project. For reasons that can simply be surmised, it has been locked away behind the heavy doors of this party-controlled service, under the control of Blerin Cela. Why? It is somewhat inconceivable that the reconstruction of Hotel «Tirana» alone should cost 17 million dollars at a time when only slightly more is being invested in Hotel «Rogner», a new four-star tourist hotel being built from the foundations up, with almost the same number of rooms, not to mention the many other features it has. The unknowns surrounding Hotel «Tirana» begin when the well-known Austrian firm «Horwarth Consulting», specializing in this field, was elbowed aside. It had drawn up the reconstruction project for Hotel «Tirana». While the above firm asked only 9.5 million dollars for the entire reconstruction, the other firm, Italian «DV Cardana», which formed «DV Alba» with the Albanian side, was allocated not a little but 17 million dollars. How can this difference of nearly 3 million dollars be justified? Where did it go? The «view» is that the reconstruction of Hotel «Tirana» is a sacrificial investment in a potential two-sided corruption scandal, a scandal that could cast the one involving Arsdit into the shade, both in terms of its value and its number and significance. According to a study conducted by a specialized Austrian firm, the value of the reconstruction, to be carried out over three years, was estimated hypothetically at around 9.5 million USD, at average European prices... At least around 4 million USD will not go into the hotel, without any effort to conceal it, — Osman Shehu declared in the newspaper «Dita informacion» in January of this year, casting suspicion, among other things, on the way the Italian firm «DV Kardona» was selected. Here is what the newspaper «Alternativa SD» wrote about this issue on Friday, 7 April 1995: «Eighteen firms submitted bids for the tourism project (the reference is to Hotel «Tirana»); three were shortlisted. Although the bids from two other firms were more favorable to the Albanian side, the least favorable one was chosen: Di Vincenso Estero — Pescara. It is now learned that this firm was established in 1991». Without leaving out of these notes

A war against free and alternative thought!! Albanian diplomacy is folklorized against the opposition’s alternative draft!! Once again, PD does not want a constitution!! — Since Berisha does not even read the alternative draft constitution in his spare time, it seems that everything is initiated by him Yesterday, the newspaper «Rilindja Demokratike» regrettably reacted against the alternative draft Constitution of the Republic of Albania prepared by the Albanian opposition. This time it made public a delicate detail that exposes the «dirty work» of the state administration in the service of the King’s fixed idea: «There will be no Constitution, not to the end». The Albanian ambassador in Strasbourg, Mr Gjon Koliqi, thus becomes a curious subject of a scandal involving Albanian diplomacy. According to RD, Mr Koliqi allegedly sent a secret telegram to the chief of staff of the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, asking for explanations regarding the submission of Albania’s alternative draft Constitution to the Council of Europe. And the answer, according to Koliqi, was that «the alternative draft will not be subjected to any expert assessment, and no action will be taken on the opposition parties’ request for this draft to be examined». The activities of the Albanian ambassador in Strasbourg have been made public—perhaps by chance. But rather than taking an interest in the Council of Europe’s receipt of and assessment of the contents of the Albanian alternative draft, Koliqi seems to be troubling himself above all with ensuring that the Council of Europe never gets a chance to read this draft constitution. It seems that our European missions continue to carry out the orders and wishes of the Albanian leadership’s referendum campaign, this time against any project different from that of 6 November. Everyone remembers the commitments and faxes sent by Albania’s diplomatic missions—costing Albania dearly—throughout Europe in defense of the project that took the name of Albanian President Berisha. Albanian folklore, embodied in the policy of the head of state, was presented to Europe. But on 6 November everything was lost. A few weeks later, the opposition parties represented in parliament—the winners of the 6 November referendum—prepared an alternative draft Constitution of Albania. In addition to the Albanian public, the draft was made known to the Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of Europe and to the deputy director of the office of the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe.

Durrës Lawyers prepare to strike Following the warnings of a strike being made by officials and judges, the fact that these are replacing lawyers with six-month trainees, the way lawyers are being «qualified» (360 questions required of them within a very short period), lawyers in Durrës and Kavajë are preparing to declare solidarity with their colleagues in Korçë, Tirana and Vlorë in these areas...

Elbasan Deputy Kruja — the owner of the biggest...

Peshkopi Over 100 thousand dollars spent on cars for PD-run communes

Elbasan Deputy Kruja — the biggest landowner in Peqin Apparently, entering politics has brought prosperity to the deputy from Peqin, Miss Hajrie Kruja. Thanks in part to her ambitions, she is now the wealthiest woman deputy in the Albanian parliament. While some time ago she led a parliamentary commission to verify whether or not the state supports the politically persecuted, she did not forget herself and her family either. Although her family’s property was taken from them during the years of monism, we can report, based on the property restitution commission, the building of the old hospital and an oil-processing workshop, which later served as a telephone exchange. But that was not enough for the deputy’s appetite. Being treated as a persecuted family, by decision of Peqin’s privatization board she bought the three-storey NPV building for 2.6 million lekë and also applied to buy the guard post of a military unit, while people in Peqin say she has also begun construction of a service station on the outskirts of the town. To be precise, the deputy made all these acquisitions in the name of her father and other family members, never recording her own name anywhere. As if the aforementioned properties were not enough, these days the oil factory was bought at auction in the name of the deputy’s father (but in reality on the deputy’s account, since she lives with both her parents). The factory went before the privatization board twice, with the obvious aim of allowing the deputy to buy it; indeed, the second time its value was reduced from 6 million to just 3 million! Although Albert Saja submitted documents as the lawful owner of the land (Continued on page 2)

— The visible tip of a scandal — It is the state budget that has provided the money and enabled the communes ruled by the most trusted people of the party-state to equip their chairmen with (sophisticated) off-road vehicles. In the district of Dibër, no PD commune chairman now travels on foot—not only from the commune center to the district, but also from the commune to home and farther afield, outside the district. In contrast to this fact, which takes little effort to notice, stand the Socialist communes and their chairmen, who continue to travel on foot or by whatever means happen to be available in order to perform their duties. The «barbed wire» that the PD offered the Socialists after its well-known victory of 26 July 1992 has found its way into the state budget, depriving them of many, many funds. Because of the «iron double locks» on information and the «cerberuses» guarding it, we cannot give the exact amount of money taken from the state budget to buy these cars and cover the other substantial expenses for fuel and spare parts intended for them. Various sources put the figure at more than one hundred thousand dollars. This calculation does not include the expenses for the PD’s «Jeep», «NIVA» and, most recently, «ISUSI», nor the costs of buying and repairing luxury cars for PD directors and others—expenses said to exceed 200 thousand dollars. The PD in Dibër, through its motorized directors and chiefs and its motorized chairmen, is capable of filling all the roads of Dibër. For this, the state’s funds have paid «cash», both openly and under the table.

Following the warnings of a strike—indeed, the actions being taken by the leaders and announced by the bar associations of Korçë, Tirana and Vlorë—it is the lawyers of Durrës and Kavajë who are preparing to declare their solidarity with colleagues in these districts. The reason for the boycott they are considering, namely their participation in court hearings, is dissatisfaction with the current law on the legal profession. The crisis affecting the justice system because of resignations—which they are making explicit—is compounded by the fact that they are being replaced by they are required to answer within a very short period); and the way their testing is intended to be organized. This has led to the view that this is a disqualification exam that discriminates against them. MIRELA NDINI

On April 12, on the occasion of the 51st anniversary of the death of People’s Hero Dervish Hekali, a rally was held in the center of the commune. Residents from the village of Hekal, the town of Ballsh and the surrounding villages took part. The commemorative address, recalling the hero’s struggle and the partisan heroism of the National Liberation War, was delivered by the chairman of the commune council, Rifat Pasha. The enthusiasm of this beautiful celebration was enlivened by the restoration of the bust of People’s Hero Dervish Hekali, which, as is known, had been desecrated by Ballist-Zogist forces. It was placed in front of the square at the school that bears the same name. On this occasion, the pupils presented a program of partisan songs and recited poems about the war and the hero. The official authorities visited the hero’s nephews, Dervish Hekali. Correspondent of “Zëri i Popullit”.

YESTERDAY IN PARLIAMENT: The president’s decree on privatization vouchers is debated We will inform you in tomorrow’s issue about this matter, which is extremely sensitive for every Albanian Law on pastures and meadows approved NEWS For two mornings, Parliament conducted its work in a plenary session, discussing and approving the draft law “On Pastures and Meadows.” The purpose of approving this law, the draft law stated, was to place ownership, administration, use and protection of pastures and meadows on a legal footing. From the perspective of ownership, this draft law envisages that they be state- (Continued on page 4) The parliamentary group of the Socialist Party was briefed on and discussed the draft law “On Pastures and Meadows,” which had been submitted to the People’s Assembly by the Council of Ministers. Naturally, this is a law that will place the administration, use and protection of pastures and meadows—considerable assets of great value—on a comprehensive legal footing. — Speech by MP Bashkim Koçi on behalf of the PS parliamentary group — We became familiar with a version of this draft law a year ago. The version presented to us now differs from the previous one in that the subject of the draft law has changed: from administration and use according to fair criteria for the treatment and improvement of carrying capacity and the preservation of the ecological balance of pastures and meadows, to a draft law for returning pastures and meadows to former owners. Our parliamentary group has repeatedly denounced the lack of a strategy for privatizing the national economy and has demanded that privatization be carried out by law, clearly determining what will remain state-owned and what will be privatized, the stages leading up to privatization, how long privatization will continue, and the owners. (Continued on page 4)

The number of joint enterprises in Shkodër has reached six. Five of them are partnerships with firms from Italy, while the sixth is with a German firm. They have begun producing furniture, construction materials, metal goods, plastics, clothing, etc. More than 600 workers are employed at these enterprises.

It has been 12 days since all kerosene sales outlets in Durrës were left without supplies. Every day, citizens form extremely long queues. No one gives you a clear answer about this problem. According to the sellers at these outlets, this abnormal situation has arisen because of the privatization of kerosene sales outlets. Someone is “interested” in this situation (!).

Five years have passed since construction began on the sports palace in the city of Burrel. To this day, the palace has not been completed so that it can function normally. According to the managers of the Mat sports club, delays in the allocation of funds have been an obstacle. In their view, a further 4 million new lekë are needed to repair the facilities of this palace. Its proper completion is essential for the development of sport in this district.