Declaration of Deputy Prime Minister Niko Peleshi on the activity of the Task Force on Energy:

 

In my capacity as the chair of the National Task Force established for the reduction of energy losses, I would like to present to the public the preliminary outcomes of the work of this Task Force within less than one month.

The network of the Local Operational Units has been established across Albania under the supervision of the Prefects of the Regions, in cooperation with important institutions, such as the Prosecutor’s Office and the Regional Police Directorates, based also on the spirit forged by the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Chair of the Task Force and the Prosecutor General on the day where the National Task Force for the reduction of energy loss was constituted.

I would like to affirm in advance that the work has started with intensity. We have not yet reached the required levels, but figures for January collections show $ 10 million more compared to January of 2013. This is indicative of the amount CEZ Distribution has to collect from the debtors and those who steal the electric energy.

CEZ figures are shocking. Last year marked an energy loss rate of 43.2 % that is equal to $200 million or to 70 % of the Drin cascade capacity. In the meantime we are faced with a financial situation that has just escaped the pitfall created by the previous government thanks to the assistance by the World Bank and IMF that comes in an amount that is only slightly higher than this significant fund we lose due to mismanagement, theft and failure to pay the debts to CEZ.

I made such comparison to prove how important is the formalization of the economy today, how crucial is to build a state-respecting culture that does not see the State as the enemy and an institution to avoid, but as an entirety of institutions that work for the benefit of the citizens.

Therefore, paying the bills to the State today and, in this case, to CEZ, an important company with a significant specific weight in the state budget, does not mean to lose, but rather to win. This is the new culture we want to foster through this Task Force as well: the culture of paying the dues, on one hand, and the establishment of a climate of cooperation and support between the citizens, private entities and the State on the other.

During this month, the National Operational Units across Albania have cut 556 illegal connections and 19 384 connections of indebted customers, of which 3 717 connections belong to the business. Interrupting the connections of the business or prohibiting thefts of energy from the business is two-folded. First, it has to do with what I explained above, that is, with the citizens and private entities observing their obligations towards the State; with the respect of the rule of law. In the case of the business, however, this has to do also with safeguarding the free market competition.

The day will end when the private business or entities that pay regularly their dues to the State feel threatened by the unfair competition that is generated from the advantage created for the other business companies that fail to pay the State.

I would like to thank the State Police for having cooperated in an exemplary way across the country in 494 cases of joint interventions with the Task Force, and the Prosecutor’s Office where we have reported 146 criminal offences and have received the promise of the Prosecutor General that they will be followed thoroughly to the end.

I would like to add something else that is related to the moral right of this Task Force. The first issue we have insisted on throughout Albania is to turn state institutions and the servants of the state administration, budgetary and non-budgetary institutions into examples of civic behavior, given that the situation of the debts such institutions towards CEZ has been even more dramatic and alarming. It is even worse, as the employees of these institutions have a good job compared to a considerable part of the population looking for a job and many of them are in the list of debtors. We have even found hundreds of CEZ employees who for months and years have failed to pay their debt to CEZ.

This Task Force cannot be successful unless we do not give it the moral right to act, meaning that the CEZ employees, the people working in the state administration, in the state institutions have to turn into examples of civic behavior and of citizens who respect the State.

I would like to conclude with these preliminary results by saying that this is a positive step that has already begun, but there are still dozens and hundreds of millions of dollars left to be collected into the State budget, CEZ budget.

In addition to extending thanks to all those citizens who have responded to this awareness raising exercise, for all those business entities who have realized that the red line has been drawn now and that a new relationship should start in terms of the liabilities towards third parties, the contractual obligations and the payments to the state, I would like to say that from this moment on the tolerance for those who will keep avoiding to fulfill their obligation to pay CEZ, to pay the State, will be zero.

I urge all the citizens, all the debtors to understand that paying means that they will give the opportunity to the state budget to pay you back in goods, investments in infrastructure, crèches, kindergartens, schools, to enhance our power infrastructure that is a crucial element that becomes often a heavy burden at the expense of the state budget, of the Albanian people.

Thus, there will be zero tolerance. We thank all those citizens and business entities who will respond to our appeal and we will be grateful to them as this is our common challenge to build the rule of law and the welfare of the Albanian economy.

Thank You!