Chrome concession scandal

The official document of the Ministry of Economy shows that the ACR Company has realized only 30% of the obligatory investments for increasing the security at work and for increasing the longevity of the mine.

This is the second time that the Bulqize concessionary agreement is legally violated. The concession of the biggest chrome mine in Albania is approved since 2001. The agreement contains a plan of obligatory investments that would increase the safety at work, that would improve the mining technology and increase its life longevity.

But the investment plan was not implemented by DARFO and not even by ACR. In June 2009, when the legal deadline had expired, both companies had carried out only half of the obligatory investments. Being in front of this violation that legally violated the mine concession, ACR demanded to postpone the investment deadline together with the payment of the fine.

Two days after this request, on 9 July 2009, the former Minister of Economy, Genc Ruli, approved the request through a suspicious procedure and with his own decision, by skipping the Parliament, which was the institution that had approved the concessionary agreement.  

Without the Parliament’s consent, Mr. Ruli allowed the company to postpone the payment of 11.4 million USD that they had to invest until the end of 2012. In parallel to this decision, the former Minister postponed the payment of the 1.6 million USD fine.

Less than four months before the expiration of the deadline, the company has violated the investment plan by realizing only 3.6 million USD, or 31% of the legal program, as accepted by the official document of the Ministry of Economy.

But failing to realize the investments is not the only violation of this agreement. The Ministry admits in this document that the 1.6 million EUR fine that ACR should pay within August 2010 has not been paid. According to ACR, this happened because the Ministry of Finances did not reimburse the VAT to the company. According to ACR, the negotiations are undergoing and expected to be resolved.

The official document of the Ministry of Economy casts strong suspicions on the Bulqize mine concessions, investments that should have legally ended in 2009 but that so far have been realized only in half.

Meanwhile, dozens of miners have died because of the bad safety conditions and the barbarian exploitation of the mine.

Bello: Abuses with national assets

The former Deputy Minister of Economy, Pajtim Bello, commented on a live interview on Top Channel about the situation at the Bulqize chrome mine.

Top Channel – What does it mean to postpone twice the investment plan and the fine payment? Since the investment plan has been a component of the concessionary agreement that was approved by the Parliament, does it mean that the agreement has failed now that the investments have not been realized?

Bello – Exactly, this is a repeated failure of the agreement and one of the worst examples for treating these agreements in Albania. There is a lack of responsibility by the government which has allowed this treatment at such a big national asset. The agreement between Ruli and the ACR Company cannot be justified. It wasn’t legal and there was a lack of potential guarantees, making us return in the same situation of three years ago”.

Top Channel – What are the damages caused by the lack of realization of these investments? What are the damages suffered by the Albanian economy for the second time that this agreemnt has not been realized?

Bello – The damages come in many areas. 3.6 million USD of investments have been realized, when they should be double. This means that there are great economic losses. The second loss is strategic, because the mine were open towards its depth and this puts in danger more than 200 million EUR of reserves, by risking the life of a town of miners that are dying in the galleries. The current gallery has extracted the material that was in the surface, which has a smaller cost and a bigger profit, but some of this profit must be used to open galleries in deeper areas. If the investment will not be realized, the galleries will remain blocked.

Top Channel – What are you proposing as an expert? How can this situation be resolved?

Bello – The lack of realization has taken human lives and the solution was delayed. But the same problem existed in 2009, when ACR had an amnesty. All other request must be taken according the law and the agreement implementation must be obligatory by law. This has happened because a lack of responsibility by Minister Ruli and all other Ministers after him.

Top Channel