Lajme Online Shqip » Albania

Albania: ucciso leader democristiano

Mimoza A — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:02:38 +0000

TIRANA, 18 GIU – Un dirigente del partito democristiano albanese (Pdk), Aleks Keka, e’ rimasto ucciso nell’esplosione della sua auto, nel nord del paese. ”Keka – ha detto il segretario generale del Pdk, Nard Ndoka – aveva incontrato alcune persone nel bar centrale della cittadina di Malesia Madhe, a pochi chilometri da Scutari, e stava viaggiando in auto quando il mezzo e’ stato fatto saltare in aria”. Il 28 giugno sono in programma in Albania le elezioni legislative.

Three Balkan States Eye Visa-Free Travel

Mimoza A — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:29:40 +0000

European Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot confirmed the possibility that the EU might decide this year to grant a visa-free regime to three Western Balkans countries.

Barrot reported to interior ministers in Luxembourg on the European Commission’s recent report on the advancement of each country in the region towards visa liberalisation. After the meeting, Barrot stated that EU member states had “the feeling that Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro have made a great effort”.

“I am not still absolutely certain but there is possibility to bring forth a proposition for visa liberalization before end of this year,” Barrot said. “At this stage I cannot insist but I can say it is possible of course if member states agree,” he added.

According to the European Commission’s report, only Macedonia has fulfilled all the necessary conditions for visa liberalisation. Montenegro and Serbia have made some progress, but further efforts are required, while Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina are lagging behind in the process.

The target date for visa free travel was January 1, 2010. However, based on the present situation, some member states believed that only Macedonia will reach the target, while the process for Montenegro and Serbia may delayed for several months.

Barrot’s statement is the first confirmation that the three countries, grouped together, have a chance to make it onto the Schengen “white list”.According to EU sources, the European Commission will complete another evaluation in early autumn to determine whether Serbia and Montenegro have demonstrate further efforts towards the implementation of the road map. If the EU decides this year to grant visa-free travel to the citizens of the three countries, the decision would enter into force on January 1, 2010.

Albania Arrests Illegal Dumping Suspects

Mimoza A — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:27:21 +0000

Three people have been arrested in the southern Albanian town of Vlora on suspicion of dumping large quantities of oil residue in the Adriatic Sea. According to local media reports early on Wednesday, large amounts of oil were pumped from tankers in a coastal area south of the town of Vlora, known as Soda’s Forest. Speaking at a ceremony for the inauguration of a new oil terminal, Prime Minister Sali Berisha called the environmental massacre a “conspiracy”, suggesting that the illegal dumping was a plot to distrupt the inauguration of the new oil terminal.“This is the same type of action and conspiracy that was made with President [George W.] Bush’s watch,” said Berisha, referring to erroneous local media reports that the former US president’s watch was stolen during a rally in the town of Fusha Kruja on a visit to Albania on June 12, 2008. The oil terminal was constructed by the Italian company Petrolifera.Petrolifera’s project has been widely contested by environmentalists and civil society activists in recent years.According to police reports, the suspects, who worked for a local company, dumped the heavy oil residue after pumping them out of an Italian-registered ship, which was transporting heavy oil from Albania to Canada.Local media reported that over 60 tonnes of oil were dumped in a canal close to the Adriatic shore, heavily polluting the area.

Albania: Election at final stage

Mimoza A — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:22:47 +0000

Four coalitions will stand in the elections that will be monitored by at least 2,500 local observers and more than 400 international ones.Throughout the day TV news always begins with the electoral campaign gripping Albania as tension has rocked the headquarters of the political parties gearing up for the parliamentary elections to be held on June 28.This will be a test for the Albanian authorities’ ability to organize transparent elections on the country’s way to the EU.
Four coalitions will stand in the elections that will be monitored by at least 2,500 local observers and more than 400 international ones.
Opinion polls conducted in March and April show that the two biggest parties – the governing Democratic Party and the opposition Socialist Party – are competing shoulder to shoulder for first place.
The international community, through the OSCE, urges political parties in Albania to boost mutual trust to enable free and fair elections later this month, in line with international standards.
What is interesting to note is the abundance of pledges made by all the political parties, especially the two big ones.

Taking the Pulse: Eastern Europe

Mimoza A — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:18:04 +0000

Our theme this week on the BBC World Service is “Taking the Pulse” of the wider global economy and looking at how efforts to tackle the downturn are affecting you.

Last year we followed four families across Eastern Europe to see how rising food prices had changed their daily lives.

Now a year on, Steven Eke has re-visited them to see how the global financial crisis has affected them.

A year on and the Mucmata family in the Albanian city of Kukes are facing new challenges.

Drita, a mother of two children, says they need new clothes for school. Prices are high and she cannot afford everything she needs.

Like many other women in the region, she is unemployed and there are no social benefits.

Many political parties are making pledges ahead of parliamentary elections on 28 June but Drita says these promises mean little and she doubts they will reduce women’s unemployment in Kukes.

On the positive side, Drita says there are now fewer power cuts, but the water supply remains irregular.

Some days, the family – which lives on the ground floor of their apartment block – has water for just two hours a day. Those living in the flats above them have more irregular supply because of low water pressure.

Bujar, the children’s father, says his salary has gone up a little. He takes home 35 euros a month more than a year ago, but his monthly salary of 240 euros still isn’t enough to cover the high cost of living.

The family borrowed 3,000 euros from a local bank to refurbish their old flat but he has been forced to borrow money from friends and family to cover the loan repayments.

The family has at times fallen behind with their electricity payments and it has been cut off.

But Bujar says he is still lucky to have a regular wage as many of his friends are unemployed.

Albanian investigators uncover owners of company running Gerdec ammunition depot

Mimoza A — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:44:03 +0000

TIRANA, Albania — An ongoing investigation into last year’s deadly ammunition blasts in Gerdec has revealed the name of the company that was running the dismantling depot, investigators said on Tuesday (April 14th). Running Trans Digging Construction were businessman Mihal Delijorgji, the main suspect in the Gerdec case, and Fahri Balliu, a close aide to Prime Minister Sali Berisha. Balliu registered his 20% share in the company under his daughter’s name, investigators determined. The defence ministry and the army are investigating the explosions, which killed 26 people and injured 300 others in March 2008.

Election monitoring will cost Albania 1.5m euros

Mimoza A — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:42:27 +0000

TIRANA, Albania — Monitoring the June 28th parliamentary elections will cost Albania’s Central Election Commission (CEC) 1.5m euros, media reported on Tuesday (April 14th). The CEC has selected the company R&T to oversee installation of monitoring cameras in all 385 vote-counting stations across the country. On Tuesday, the CEC demonstrated how to register each ballot in front of the cameras at each centre. The new election code, adopted in December, provides for installing cameras for the first time to guarantee a fair election process.

Albanian Chamber of Commerce works on an economic recovery plan

Andi Bega — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:35:44 +0000

The Albanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry plans to bring in a sort of wide-ranging “tax amnesty” to boost the country’s sagging economy and thereby escape the crisis.

According to the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (Ice) offices in Tirana, the Albanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry plans to bring in a sort of wide-ranging “tax amnesty” to boost the country’s sagging economy and thereby escape the crisis.

It has also proposed a VAT reduction on products and services in the building sector. According to experts from the Albanian agency, administrative concessions and encouragement for the sector are of fundamental importance, as are incentives for investment in council housing projects by way of structural funds.

In the anti-crisis package proposed by the Chamber of Commerce, there are also incentives for guarantee schemes for Albanian exports.

EVN, Statraft sign 950m euros Albania power deal

Mimoza A — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:23:26 +0000

Austria’s EVN utility and Norway’s Statkraft will invest 950 million euros ($1.37 billion) to build three hydroelectric power stations in eastern Albania in what they said was currently Europe’s biggest power project.
“The unique size of the complexity of the Devoll hydropower project as the biggest ever investment in Albania, and currently the biggest Hydro Power Project in Europe, justified our enormous efforts,” EVN’s chief executive officer Burkhard Hofer said.
EVN won a build-operate-transfer concession to exploit the whole potential of the Devoll river valley in January and had since been negotiating a contract with Albania.
EVN said the power stations on the Devoll River in eastern Albania near Greece and Macedonia would have a capacity of 340 MW and generate around 1,000 GWh annually.
It withdrew from a tender to buy Albania’s DSO power distribution operator, but along with fellow Austrian utility Verbund is about to start building a 160 million euros hydropower plant on the northern Drini river, the fourth on the river but first hydropower plant in Albania in 30 years.
Albania has been suffering chronic power shortages since it toppled communism in 1990 and demand kept growing steadily. Prime Minister Sali Berisha has been wooing foreign investors in the energy sector to boost output. ($1=.6955 euros)

In Albania coordinamento ps Italia

Mimoza A — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:59:38 +0000

In Albania coordinamento ps Italia

Capo Polizia, sara’ epicentro del contrasto a criminalita’

L’Albania, annuncia Manganelli, ‘sara’ l’epicentro per le strategie europee di contrasto alla criminalita’ organizzata’. L’ufficio della polizia italiana in Albania, spiega, diventera’ il centro di coordinamento di tutti gli uffici della polizia italiana e delle polizie europee presenti nei paesi dei Balcani meridionali. Manganelli nel corso dell’incontro a Tirana con il premier albanese Sali Berisha, ribadisce lo spirito di collaborazione nel contrasto alla criminalita’.