“Argita Berisha’s 3% was a bribe”

After Ansar’s interview on Top Channel, Mrs. Argita Berisha Malltezi and the Albanian Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, reacted in separate press releases. The PM declared that Ansar’s requests were legally impossible, since he wanted exclusive investment, oil without VAT and private land based on the “Albania 1 Euro” initiative.

On 19 January 2013, Argita Berisha Malltezi declared that every offer made to Zafar was in full accordance with the laws of the Albanian country, even though he didn’t pay anything for their services. Selami Xhepa, former adviser of the Albanian Prime Minister, published a story titled: “My story with Zafar Ansar”.

Mr.Ansar reacted after these declarations.

Muhamed Veliu: Mr.Ansar, the purpose of this interview is to clarify some matters that came after your first interview on January 15th, regarding some declarations from Prime Minister Berisha, Argita Malltezi and the former Prime Minister adviser, Selami Xhepa. I want to start the interview with this question. Have you asked Argita Malltezi to undertake any concrete step, since she declared that you have not paid the services?

Zafar Ansar: During our meeting I told Argita that I would need her services for all legal requests. She agreed and sent me the fees, in which she included a 3% success fee. I didn’t sign the agreement. Argita sent me her bill on a paper where she had not written any registration number, date, tax code or VAT. This was about her work from August 20th to September 30th. The price was for 42.5 hours, without giving any detail about what work they had done and the respective documents. I asked her to send me all documents to prove her work, and she didn’t answer. That’s why I didn’t pay. I can give you the bill.

Muhamed Veliu: Have you any idea about the location of the plot of land that she offered?

Zafar Ansar: She said that it was in Porto Romano, Durres. I have never been there and I don’t know where it is.

Muhamed Veliu: The Albanian opposition says that the land belongs to businessman Damir Fazlic. Did she tell you the owner’s name?

Zafar Ansar: I don’t know the owner’s name. She didn’t mention it.

Muhamed Veliu: During the Democratic Party Parliamentary Group meeting, the Prime Minister was quoted of saying that your requests were unrealizable, since you asked an exclusive investment in this area, petroleum without VAT and a private land based on the initiative “Albania 1 Euro”. Have you sent these requests to the Prime Minister or his councillors?

Zafar Ansar: My memory for our meeting is different. I wanted to meet the Prime Minister to inform him about my proposition, which was related with the construction of a thermal power station in Albania, and receive his blessing. The Prime Minister agreed and told me to progress with the project. I have never asked him anything exclusive or for free. We foresaw in our project that we needed 45.000 square meters of land, with a price of 2.25 million EUR. The offer we made to the Albanian Power Corporation did not include VAT or any other tax for the 144 MW power station. This is an international practice, to not include taxes, because you cannot predict them in the future.

Muhamed Veliu: Have you read the comments of Selami Xhepa, former adviser of the Prime Minister, and what can you say us about that?

Zafar Ansar: Regretfully, I have to say that the article written by the former adviser of Prime Minister Berisha, Selami Xhepa, titled “My story with Ansar”, published on Panorama, has a series of problems. While the Prime Minister claims that my project was blocked due to my exclusive requests, his former adviser, Mr.Xhepa, claimed that the government policy was to discourage power stations that worked with petroleum, and that’s why the project was blocked. Who is right, the Prime Minister or his adviser? Did the Prime Minister reject the offer for exclusivity reasons, or for the VAT on petroleum? In such conditions, there would have been no need for me to go at his daughter’s office. My other question is why the Albanian Power Corporation did not reject the offer? Mr.Selami Xhepa says that I think that because I come from a country where corruptive payments can buy anything without any problem. I wish I had agreed with their requests, so that I would have no problem to build my project. I didn’t agree, and that’s why my project wasn’t implemented. I want to say to Mr.Xhepa that I didn’t know who the Prime Minister’s daughter was. She was introduced to me by Ambassador Admir Banaj, a trusted man of the Prime Minister. Argita offered me her services and I agreed to cooperate. She sent me an agreement, to secure her payments for the legal fees, and also 3% as a success fee. I didn’t sign this agreement because I considered it a bribe. My project was rejected not by my exclusive demands or because of the petroleum conditions, but because I didn’t accept the requests. My companies operate in many countries, including Sweden, where the legal ethics is the most perfect in the world. The Prime Minister’s adviser, referring to my origin from Pakistan, says that I can achieve anything with bribes. But he must know that transparency and bribes are serious matters in Pakistan. In less than one year, the Paki Supreme Court discharged the Prime Minister because he lied to the justice. Another Prime Minister in Pakistan was found guilty for corruption and there’s an arrest order against him. I hope the Albanian courts will follow Pakistan’s model to fight high rank corruption. No one can stand over the law.

Muhamed Veliu: Mr.Ansar, did you describe Argita Berisha’s request for the “3% success fee” as a bribe? You manage businesses in many countries of the world. Have you ever seen similar requests by other law firms?

Zafar Ansar: When you go to a law firm, they bill you for their legal services. But this request was something new for me. I don’t know what this 3% was for. I have no idea. I work everyday with law firms. My daughter works in one of the biggest law firms in the world, called Little Chance. She said she had never heard of this.

Muhamed Veliu: After your first interview on January 15th 2013, there was another question: what pushes you to speak now for an issue that took place in 2007?

Zafar Ansar: I didn’t want to get involved in Albania’s interior politics, since I have no interest and I will never have, but I regret to say that I had no other option but to answer Mr.Xhepa’s slanders.

Ruli reacts to Ansar’s declaration. Former METE Minister: Absurd declaration

After the declarations made by Zanfar Ansar and the news published in some daily newspapers, the former Minister of Economy, Genc Ruli, explained that Ansar’s business was rejected because it was not worthy.

Ruli gave his version of facts, saying that he had demanded a series of exclusivity conditions that damaged the Albanian state.

“The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy, and the Albanian Power Corporation, after reviewing the proposition and not the project, we clearly stated that it was not convenient for the ALbanian state, due to the exclusivities and prices he was demanding”, Ruli declared.

“This was the only reason why his project was refused. Every other reason is malevolent speculation”, the former Minister declared.

“The only think that might have pushed Mr.Ansar make those declaration, is returning the favor to those who made him consul before 2005”, Ruli added.
 

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