Press conference of Minister Ahmetaj:

I believe we all agree that we won’t go far by fooling one another, as we used to do for many years with electricity, the occupied land, worthless diplomas, and so on. And to say it outright, but also from an economic point of view, we cannot go far by robbing one another.

The efforts made together to implement the difficult yet necessary reforms are showing on a daily basis that citizens and businesses want a state, and that together we can establish the rule of law even where it seems impossible.

The time has come for us to make together another attempt to achieve another historic change on the laborious path for the renewal of the national and household economy in Albania.

Perhaps this one is really the most difficult, and obviously, the most inevitable effort if we want to reach where everybody aspires; to build a state where everyone pays what is due and where those trying to fool the others are punished according to the law and by the law.

This effort is in fact a big frontal battle against informality in economy. Or to put straight, it is a battle against robbery of one – another, the cost of which is paid as always by the majority that follows the rules and does not evade taxes.

But the cost of robbing one – another is paid by all citizens without exception, by every Albanian consumer, who are not given a receipt when they buy goods.

This cost is paid by every state employee, whose request for wage increase is legitimate, but wages have not increased because the money that the state would use to increase salaries is devoured by anyone who does not give receipt for the merchandise bought by consumers and citizens.

This cost is paid also by every employee in the private sector asking for a wage increase, as well.

But in order to increase their salaries, companies need a fair competition where everybody pay and taxes are lowered for everybody.

The cost of robing one – another is paid by the children who want better nurseries and schools; elderly people who want a greater increase of pension and dignified service; communities who want more water supply, sanitation, irrigation and drainage canals, better roads, hospitals, more of them and better ones.

So this old disease of the Albanian economy, informality as we call it, or robbery of one – another, for I want to put it bluntly, costs more to Albania and its citizens.

We have decided to oppose with the force of reason and law this disease that consumes the consumer’s money and directly prevents a faster development of our national economy, but also of the economy of every Albanian family.

From the moment our government declared the target to open, starting from September, this new front of our joint effort for reform, it has engaged on the ground its teams, and has been assisted by 500 young students of economics and finance for testing the battle field.

The data of our test are as alarming as significant for everybody:

Approximately one third of the businesses in our country are not registered at all, or have no cashboxes, or if there is any, they are used as worthless and unused furniture. So, not only do they violate the law, but they openly rob citizens and consumers.

In total, over 50% of the business almost do not provide any coupon, openly violating the law and any ethical norm in relation to consumers.

But this is not all. By not giving tax receipt, by not recording their sales, these businesses do neither more nor less but steal the value added tax paid to the state by the customer in the price of goods or services bought. With this aggressive disease in its body, the Albanian economy cannot reach where we altogether have the ambition but also the possibility to take it.

Therefore, I am here today to make an appeal on behalf of the Albanian government, to businesses that operate in flagrant violation of the law, to hurry up and register before the radical surgery to remove this intolerable disease starts.

I urge them to put the cashboxes and have them at the customer service, before the operation starting in September brings them before the law.

I urge them to stop giving their customers bills that have no legal and fiscal value, so that in dealing with the law they will not lose a lot more than they can gain by breaking the law.

We certainly want understanding and cooperation; we do not want to use the force of law before the force of reason.

This disease is not new, but is has been eroding our national and household economy for many years. So, we thought it would be appropriate to give everyone time to be on the tracks of the law and all together move in the right direction.

Time is running, and we will repeat this appeal frequently until the start of the operation which, the same as the operation of power, will not stop before anybody for any reason.

I also want to make it clear to those who have misunderstood or deliberately consider in public this operation as an action against the small ones that the operation against informal economy has started from the large ones with a very detailed analysis of the overall situation and of the economic situation of each actor.

Oil, cigarettes, valuable goods and wholesale trade will be the focus of our frontal action. But obviously, the chain of informality has a beginning and an end, it has initiators and large wholesale manipulators, as it has medium or small actors, and we will be checking every link of the chain, from the largest to the smallest ones.

In this operation, the same as in the operation of energy, we feel part of a strategic alliance with citizens and consumers, and with all large and small businesses that regularly pay taxes.

We will seek their support and co-operation, and our intention is to share with them the success of this battle, by reducing taxes and making it possible to increase salaries and pensions.

One more thing, to conclude.

To those asking why we did not do this operation since the beginning, I answer very simply: because those who for many years let the country down, at the edge of an abyss of debt and collapse of energy made it impossible for us to deal earlier with this major battle.

But also because this is obviously the most difficult battle, and in order to start it we needed the seed of a new culture of respect for the rule of law. We have planted this seed during the 20 months of our first term.

Now, it is about time for anyone who does not want to have problems with the law and the state to start taking measures.