The Minister of Energy, Damian Gjiknuri, authorized the government-owned
company “Albpetrol” to control two of the most important oil sources in
our country, the Gorisht Kucoli and Cakran Mollaj.
The decision was taken after the “Transatlantic” concessionary company failed to fulfill its contractual obligations, causing a 30 million USD debt to the government.
These oil wells were privatized in 2007, when the Berisha government gave both of them to Stream Oil, which created a 35 million USD to our government debt and sold it to Transatlantic.
After this sale, the oil wells which once produced up to 1.6 million tons a year, went through a series of financial maneuvers to avoid paying government debts, a chain which seems to end now that it will go under government control again.
Albpetrol announced they will use the wells themselves and send the profit to the budget.
This is the first official failed oil concession in Albania, while results for other agreements also seem controversial.
Almost the entire oil industry in our country is on the hands of private operators. Albpetrol is the only one paying tax on profit, and the only public company. All others declare they have no profits.
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