Interview with the Head of the State Supreme Audit Office in Albania

What is the biggest problem, in your opinion, in the way Albania is functioning?

- We are paying a high price for the economic crisis of our neighbours: Greece and Italy. Around 1 million emigrants live in these two countries. On the one hand, the reduction of remittances aggravates the balance of payments in Albania. On the other hand, a part of Albanians lost their jobs there and were forced to return home. At the same time, the unemployment rate in Albania is about 14-15 percent, so it’s rather high.

Do you, as the Supreme Audit Institution, have any specific ideas how to counteract corruption?

- When I was nominated the candidate of the SAI Head by the President of the Albanian Republic, I presented the Parliamentary Commission for Economy and Finance with my strategic plan. One of its major objectives was to prevent and fight corruption in a more effective way. I am positive that the fight with corruption should be a system task, gathering various institutions but also activating the whole society. According to that vision, in recent months we have signed an agreement to curb corruption with the Ministry of Finance, the Authority of Competition and the High Inspectorate for the Control of Assets of Public Officials. We are in the process of concluding relevant agreements with the Office of Prosecutor General in Albania, the Anticorruption Department in the Council of Ministers and the State Informative Service. We also cooperate with six most active non-government organisations (NGOs) Together, we will be more effective and more efficient in the fight against corruption. I wish to highlight that the cooperation agreement signed with the Ministry of Finance was based on the INTOSAI standard 9150. It’s important for us to work under international standards.

In 1997, you went through the crash of credit unions which turned out to be financial pyramids. At that time the media talked a lot about Albania- the crash caused some riots, or even a kind of anarchy. What did you learn from that experience?

- Of course, it was a horrible experience. But it helped us to learn that we have to respect public financial institutions and financial rules set by the Central Bank. Now, the situation in Albania is totally different. Nowadays, people have higher financial awareness and the risk to get involved in new financial pyramids is very low, almost zero. The supervisory role of the Central Bank and other public financial institutions is much stronger now. I believe that we will not make the same mistake anymore.

Did the citizens blame also the Albanian SAI for that crisis? Did they have any objections to the auditors that they did not identify the threat on time?

- Albanians put the blame on all public institutions. In their eyes, the SAI bore part of the responsibility for that situation. Maybe they were right - maybe we shouldn’t have waited for the financial control to be exercised by the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance. On the other hand, the credit unions were private businesses and we couldn’t exercise immediate supervision over them. At the end of the day, it was the government and the political parties that the citizens charged most with the responsibility for that situation. But yes, they also blamed the auditors who could not identify the threat on time due to poor financial culture.

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