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Power Abuse Charge for Albanian Minister
Tirana, 25 Nov. 2008 – Albania’s Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha has been charged with abuse of power over alleged irregularities and misuse of public funds in the construction of the Albania-Kosovo highway.
Basha was charged on Monday by General Prosecutor Ina Rama with abuse of power in the case, which is thought to have cost the state something in the range of €230 million.
The evaluation was made using the average price of construction material and labour costs in comparison to what Albania is paying to build the road.
Basha’s layer denied any wrongdoing on Monday through a statement and called the prosecution “politically motivated.”
The highway, which links the port of Durres with Kosovo and includes a six kilometre-long tunnel, is the country’s biggest public works project in decades.
Almost 89 per cent of Albania’s capital expenditures during the 2008 fiscal year have been spent for the on the highway, data published by Ministry of Finance suggests.
For the nine months ending on September 30, Albania had spent €328 million from its €373 million capital expenditures budget on the road.
About half of this sum was raised in the international market as syndicated commercial loans. Albania will need to invest another €250 million to complete the project, due to be finalised in the summer of 2009.
Prosecutor General Ina Rama has been probing alleged irregularities in the tender for the construction of the highway won by the American-Turkish consortium, Bechtel-Enka. Read more: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/14935/
The charges relate to the time when Basha was Transport Minister. Basha’s immunity was lifted by parliament at the end of December last year. Apart from the Basha, the former Deputy Transport Minister, Armand Teliti and the General Director of Roads, Leila Saraci, have been charged with abuse of power
Both officials have denied the charges against them. According to prosecutors the case will head to court before December 6.
Source: Balkan Insight
