The Albanian government is officially under investigation for acting
against the public’s interest. INSIG, the state owned insurance company,
is being investigated by the Competition Authority for being involved
in an agreement that used fixed prices against the interest of the
consumer.
On February 2012, the market faced a sudden price increase of the automobile insurance fees, which has been the same for eight companies that operate in the market. Since the preliminary investigation raised even more suspicions, the Authority decided to open the investigation against eight companies, the list of which starts with INSIG, the company owned by the Ministry of Finances.
The government is being investigated for infringing article 4 of the Competition law, which is “cartel agreement”, the most serious infringement of competition and that in some western countries is punished with prison. The investigation list, besides INSIG, includes the insurance companies SIGAL, Sigma, Intersig, Atlantic, Alb Insurance, Eurosig and Interalbanian.
The investigation of INSIG involves the government directly, as owner of the company and since the leading board that takes care of the price policy is led by the highest ranking Ministry of Finances officials. The fact that the government is involved in a “cartel agreement” is a first not only in Albania, but maybe in the entire world. The technical investigation of the authority was completed by having even more suspicions The final decisions is up to the Competition Commission, and if the infringement will be official, this is a clear case when the government, which is supposed to guard the public interest, goes against the interest of its citizens.
Top Channel
