Inspecting the chrome “far west”

Gjiknuri has established a special working group that will inspect the legality and implementation of every agreement or concessionary permit given in the Bulqize chrome-mining area. The inspection will include the realization of the concession program, but also the fulfillment of the security conditions and the public safety of employees.

The Minsitry says that through this inspection they will also identify unlicensed subjects that exploit the chrome reserves illegally. As for the regular agreements, the Ministry will make a balance of the chrome reserves for every permit, starting from the day when they enter in act. They will also verify if the subjects have respected the laws during these years, as stated by their agreements and permits. The government will also inspect the realization of investments for every permit, if this has been done or not according to the obligations foreseen in the concessionary agreements and conditions set by the mining permits.

Sources from the Ministry of Energy say that after the action, the working group will plan a detailed report on the situation of the chrome area. After this, the Ministry says that they will take decisions about every subject that has not implemented the law or their agreements. The chrome business has always been problematic with the respecting of the law. The biggest concession was given in 2001 to the italian company DARFO, which exploited its reserves for six years and sold it to an Austrian-Russian company “Decometal”, which created the ACR. This was sold again last year to “Balfin” group, owned by the Albanian businessman, Samir Mane.

There are other small concessionary permits owned by Albanian businessmen. There are also illegal subjects who dig in this area without a permit. This chaotic situation not only causes millions of USD in damages to the state budget, but it has also turned Bulqize into an arena of armed conflicts for influence areas.

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