“Albania received positive evaluation from an international and
prestigious institution such as Standard & Poor’s”, said the former
Albanian Minister of Finances, Shkelqim Cani, in his last appearance on
Top Channel.
His resignation is close to some developments, such as that of this Wednesday, when the IMF is expected to sign the next agreement with the Albanian government. But also one day after a critic report of Crown Agents.
Crown agents said that 2 million liters of oil without excise have been imported in Albania from January to March 2015. There have been 120 cases when the domestic oil has not been traded according the law, for a total of more than 48.000 liters, according to Crown Agents.
The low income was one of the points that made the opposition but also some voices of the majority to attack the government.
The opposition leader, Lulzim Basha, said that only during the last year, the Albanian citizens lost 400 million USD from the Tax Office.
However, Top Channel has learned that there have been other developments in the past days, that were left outside the public’s attention.
The Minister of Energy, Damian Gjiknuri, asked Minister Cani of reducing the mining honorary tax, since the industry is experiencing a difficult moment due to the drastic price drop.
Gjiknuri asked to make it easier for this industry, which is also located at Cani’s electoral area. But Top Channel has learned that the chrome industry lobby has increased pressure to the government and the Commission of Economy, with the support of some MPs from the majority, especially from the Socialist Movement for Integration.
The biggest ally of Shkelqim Cani in these years was the International Monetary Fund, which has greeted the Minister’s stances for a rigorous implementation of the agreement.
However, Edi Rama’s novelty ideas for giving VAT in concession were against the conservative nature of Minister Cani.
Same as with Crown Agents, Cani was not as optimistic as Rama for the VAT concession.
Were these developments responsible for the fate of the former Minister of Finances? One thing is certain. Minister Arben Ahmetaj will be a more flexible Minister of Finances as regards concessions and other novelty ideas of the Prime Minister.
Top Channel
