“Cold War” for Albpetrol
05/09/2012 19:30
Freedom Party announces protest in front of the prosecution office over the arrest of leader, former president Ilir Meta 25/11 21:16
The sale of the “Albpetrol Company”, the recent strategic privatization
in Albania, warns a strong geopolitical battle between the biggest world
economies.
The government set September 7th as the last date for making the offers and so far there have been 19 companies that have submitted their documents.
Among them there are two American Societies, the “Silk Road Equity” and “Thompson Global”, a Chinese Company named “GPRO” and the Russian giant “Gazprom”.
This is the first time that the privatization of a strategic company attracts companies from superpowers like USA, China and Russia, three of the main countries that set the energetic balances throughout the world. This warns a strong battle of not only economic interests.
With this latest decision, the Albanian government has resigned from all rights of the underground and aboveground assets as regards fuels.
The Albanian government has given to Albpetrol the right to make the researches for oil, and tomorrow, when it will become a private company, it will decide for the other companies that will search for oil in Albania. The government also will have no effect in the production and processing of petroleum.
Since the petroleum is a strategic product, the decision for “Albpetrol” goes beyond the simple economic interest and turns into a geopolitical decision.
The interests of Russia and China have increased the sensibility of the Americans for this company. Although the US government has expressed no official stance, some indirect signals have arrived in Tirana in the last weeks.
Another signal was the participation in the tender of two US companies who came only in the recent weeks, after the official participation of the Russian “Gazprom” and the Chinese “GPRO”.
It might be a coincidence, but right before the opening of the tendering offers for “Albpetrol”, the Deputy Assistant of the US State Secretary for Europe and Euroasia, Philip Reeker, arrived in Albania and will stay here until the end of this week, two days after the tender will be closed.
Reeker is expected to meet high rank state officials during his visit, even Prime Minister Berisha, one day before the sale of Albpetrol.
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