Business complains about corruption

“We have many reports and testimonies from our members who say that they encounter corruption frequently, mainly in the tax collection area. There are testimonies also for customs. People say that customs officials demand bribes to end procedures on time”, declared David Anderson, head of the American Chamber of Commerce.

“We have reports and complaints by our members for a series of issues, mostly related to the law implementation or arbitrary procedures in general. I think that Albania has good laws as regards international standards, but it suffers the lack of implementation. This is especially present with taxes, especially for intellectual property and customs”, declared Andrea Gebbeken, President of the German Chamber of Commerce.

Reports from international institutions such as Davos and the World Bank consider corruption as one of the most problematic factors in Albania.

“This is not only an internal problem, but the word spread among foreign investors is that Albania might not be a good country for business. Certainly this hampers investments. When business is obliged to pay for doing business, it affects their liquidity and desire to stay on business”, Anderson declared.

“Corruption slows down foreign and local investments. If you cannot predict what the administration and authorities will do, and if you cannot rely on well-defined administrative procedures, then business will hesitate”, Gebbeken added.

Bribes are not the only form of corruption. Businesses say that the way how government officials behave with businessmen is a form that encourages corruption.

“We are especially concerned with the legislation planning process. We are concerned because the Business Consultative Council doesn’t work, which is supposed to be the forum for a dialogue between business and the government. Their meetings are held rarely and dominated by government representatives. We don’t feel that there is an effective forum for business there, where you can open issues effectively and find tangible results”, Anderson declared.

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