Weekly conference “Economy on Focus”: 

 

Prime Minister Edi Rama: Hello everyone! First of all, I would like to extend my heartfelt wishes to you for peaceful Christmas Eve!

Today, we are here for the regular weekly conversation session focusing on the economy. The central theme of today’s communication is the energy sector, which has been one of the most serious issues – as you probably remember – that we inherit from the previous government. Certainly, not the only one, because of a extremely degraded system, and today, 7 years and 2 months later, we can openly state that we have ushered in a wholly new phase, as we have paved the way for an ongoing radical transformation.

I don’t want to take too much time by going over details and elaborate the data on this extremely important sector, but I would like to put emphasis on several key issues.

Let me draw you attention to the fact that the work is already underway to construct the interconnection line between Albania and North Macedonia. In the meantime, the interconnection line between Albania and Kosovo has just been made operational, a project rightly described as a historic one by my predecessor, but a project that reduced to a story both painful and ridiculous over the years during the previous government’s term in office. The project was then halted due to the veto imposed by Serbia that was removed by nothing more and nothing less but the Regional Schengen. I strongly believe that this important development between our two countries and, on the other hand, the interconnection line between Albania and Northern Macedonia are part of a whole set of great changes that are taking place, including the conditions for the establishment of the Albanian Energy Exchange, originally starting with the legal changes adopted in 2018 and then with the signing of the shareholders’ agreement between the Albanian and the Kosovo power distribution operators on establishment of the Energy Exchange, setting a completely new era for the energy sector.

Likewise, we are also in the process of expanding the market and its integration with Italy and Montenegro, taking notice that energy networks are constantly growing both at home and abroad.

On the other hand, we can confidently talk about incredible accomplishments in terms of reducing losses in the distribution of electricity. In the meantime, payment collection and paying utility bills is now a norm that can be questioned by nobody.

I would also like to touch upon another important issue regarding a great strategic development, with its first implementation phase already underway, the signing of the agreement with the US government on the Skavica hydropower plant. The project will enable us to prevent every single drop of water from being wasted and be used for electricity generation and will transform Albania into a electricity exporter, providing at the same time the opportunity to save significantly because of the opportunity to keep reserves and not be forced to urgently turn to the market at times of drought-provoked crises.

The volume of work done in this sector is really colossal. Of course, a significant part of these works go unnoticed. To this end, it is worth going over details at least in a communication of this kind, even though elaborating on them may take considerable time. However, you will have a considerable overview that the Energy Minister will make available, also on a written form, so that you will be provided the opportunity to go over the details your are most interested in as part of your occupation and communicate it then to the public. As we have already agreed with the veteran in your group, who has taken over to represent each and every one of you equally, let’s move on to the questions. You can certainly make questions outside the today’s energy topic, on the condition that such questions are reported in a separate news report, without infringing upon the today’s central theme. Being fully confident that Elia will also verify this principle, I am giving the floor to Elia first and then everyone of you.

-Thank you Mr. Prime Minister! The first question is about the today’s topic. I agree that the energy sector launched during your government’s first term in office has been successful. However, you also launched a reform in the hydrocarbons sector and I would like to ask why that reformed didn’t turn out to be equally successful? Is this because this sector doesn’t include the interest group, but the small subscribers and the small business, and not the ones that Lulzim Basha calls them as oligarchs? So, there were big interests to be affected should this reform was to be implemented in full, just like it was the case with the power sector.

 -The second question is about the recent Tirana visit by Mrs. Osmani. We talked about success in putting the interconnection line with Kosovo into operation, but it is seemingly not the same success in bilateral relations, because a regress in the relations between Albania and Kosovo has been noticed in the last couple of years at least and this was observed during Mrs. Osmani’s visit to Tirana, with you – and I don’t know the reasons you had – failing to attend the Parliament’s session, where she delivered a speech and spoke about issues that run counter to your position, namely the toll imposed on the Nation Road or the Balkan Mini-Schengen. You took office back in 2013 vowing zero conflicts with the neighbours and we actually have had very good relations almost with every neighbour, including Serbia. And it hasn’t changed in the past seven years also because of your relations with Mr. Vucic. However, the situation is not the same when it comes to the relations with Kosovo. Do you feel responsible for this, Mr. Rama?

PM Edi Rama: I am giving the floor to the Minister to answer to the first question given that the question directly concerns the today’s topic and I am simply making a parenthesis through a single sentence. The reform in terms of distribution and electricity bills collection certainly affects a large part of people and this is the reason why it was on focus more than anything else for a certain period of time. Meanwhile, the hydrocarbons sector reform is somehow more limited in terms of the stakeholders, even though it affects the interest of a large group of people too. For this reason, being probably more limited in terms of the attention it draws, it has failed to attract proper considerations, but I can assure you that facts and figures speak for a positive progress of the reform. We are pressing ahead with the reform and, if I am not mistaken, we are going to approve another decision at the today’s cabinet meeting in order to further sophisticate control on hydrocarbons in a digital way. This means work goes on. The Minister will probably provide concrete facts and figures on that.

Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku: Thank you for the question, Elia, and thank you for dwelling upon the hydrocarbons sector as it took less time than the other sectors. I would like to try and pick up where the Premier left off that we should keep in mind a very important thing. We should bear in mind that the components of the power sector in the Republic of Albania are state-owned sectors. With the CEZ departure, the Power Distribution Operator, the Power Transmission Operator and the Power Corporate are state-owned utilities, in which we have had a say in decision-making process, we have pursued development, regulatory and preventing policies, and sometimes even harsh policies in order to create a mentality that the payment of the electricity bill is a must, or that nobody should steal power from the network and this is the successful reform we often talk about. In the meantime, we should bear in mind that state has a regulatory role in the hydrocarbons sector and the components of this sector are mainly private. Leaving aside Albpetrol, a company that has incurred more debts and problems to the state budget or the sector’s health than it has performed over the years. But it is a company that has also caused a huge social problem. More than 1000 people work in that enterprise and of course we have tried to reform that part of the sector too, but always taking into consideration also the reform’s social impact. Other components in the hydrocarbons sector are private components at which the state has found what is called the fait accompli, just like it was the case with the Bankers Petroleum, a concession contract and we know quite well it is currently the largest petroleum exploration and production company in the Republic of Albania, hoping the involvement of Shell Oil Company and Italian oil and gas company ENI through new contracts and terms will tip the balance in this sector. The same goes for the case concerning the oil refinery. A long story with a incredibly huge social problem, a refinery built to carry out a closed cycle as it was built to process the oil extracted in the Zharrez oilfield only, but the oil extracted in that oilfield is no longer under the state’s control, but, according to the agreement, it is under the control of the concessionary and Bankers, and the agreement doesn’t force the company to sell the product in the country, but export it and of course the company exports oil to maximise its profits and it is in the company’s rights to do so as the contract allows it. So, the refinery is now out of the cycle and the state’s control, because it is a private utility, just like Bankers is. This is all about the entire system of oil extraction and processing. I am pretty sure you are referring also to the oil price and the final consumer, but all these affect either the price for the final consumer or the involvement or regulation that the state can make to the sales and oil wholesale and retail sectors in the Republic of Albania. Given that Albania relies mostly on imported oil and given that the domestic industry and the domestic oil production, despite being an oil-rich and oil-producing country like no other country in the Balkans just because of this complexity that has triggered all these problems. As the Premier said and as the figures show, no comparison can be drawn between the 2013, when we inherited this sector, and the situation today. Figures speak for themselves. Every indicator shows other parameters and the sector has definitely grown, while the legal framework has been improved. We have intervened several times to change the legal framework on the hydrocarbons sector, improving and aligning the legislation with the European legal framework. So, the hydrocarbons sector has seen positive developments, but unlike the electricity sector, the hydrocarbon sector has this gap created due to the involvement of the private sector in it.

I would like to add something else. We have launched a reform regarding the Track and Trace part. It will be an important reform and we are currently working with foreign companies and foreign support and expertise to set up a whole tracking system of the entire oil process in the territory of Albania, in order to put it under a controllable legal and regulatory framework in the future. A framework and a process that will create an immediate and very large impact on oil trading to the end user. I assure you of this and very soon, once the study is submitted, we will make a presentation of it and how it works.

Prime Minister Edi Rama: As to the second question about the visit by Mrs. Vjosa, I can say that our objective for zero problems with the neighbours has been and will remain valid, as you recalled it, however, zero problems with the neighbours doesn’t imply hiding the problems. It means eliminating the problems. Beyond that, in this case it is not that we have problems, we have no problems with Kosovo. Unfortunately, Kosovo has problems with itself and if I can make a concise definition of the problem I see in Kosovo, it is that for some time now, domestic policy has become foreign policy and foreign policy has become a domestic policy. This has exhausted Kosovo internally and externally. This is a problem I see as a worrisome one and I have constantly addressed it in all talks I have had with Kosovo leaders and I have tried to address it also publicly, of course, without wanting to blame nobody for anything.

What happens regarding the Regional Schengen is typical, with one of the pillars of the foreign policy concerning the regional policy has become somehow like the Rozafa castle in Kosovo. Symbolically speaking, it is as if some build it during daytime, while some others tear it down during the night time. It is inconceivable to me that a legitimate government and the Prime Minister of a legitimate government sign in the White House the readiness of the state of Kosovo for the Regional Schengen, with the powers granted by the Constitution and the law and an acting President appears in Albania, so outside Kosovo, and tries to play domestic politics with this pillar of foreign policy of Albania, or Kosovo in this case.

The debate over the toll barrier is even more grotesque. The tool barrier unto the highway is described as a boundary marker with Kosovo. This is to play politics by using administrative issues of a neighbouring country and by visiting Tirana to embark on a propaganda campaign in Tirana in order to gain some extra votes in Kosovo through demagogy and absurd rhetoric. Because the toll barrier out there is not a boundary marker between Albania and Kosovo, just like it is not the toll barrier that is going to be imposed on the Milot-Fier highway in the future, which is not a boundary marker between Shkodra and Tirana or between Tirana and Fier. This is also the case with the barrier tolls in every other country which are not boundary markers within their state’s territory. This is grotesque. And it is not only grotesque, but also not well-wishing, to put it mildly. If Kosovo and Albania are homeland of Mrs. Vjosa, then this is a barrier toll right at the heart of the homeland for every patriot to pay their contribution to that road, which is the homeland’s road and this is applicable to all of those who use this highway. Facts speak clearly for themselves today. Take a look at this highway, and I believe that Mrs. Vjosa and everyone else, if they really wish to see the essential and capillary transformation the highway has undergone in each of its sections, precisely thanks to the significant investments already underway along the whole stretch of this highway, which was a highly dangerous road, constantly risking degradation. This road is undergoing improvements to meet best safety and maintenance standards thanks to the contribution of everyone.

These are two issues clearly speaking of a disease that has affected and is eroding Kosovo politics, making an alteration of the internal political functions with the foreign policy and vice-versa. This is all conceptual, and it has nothing to do with personal relations, it has nothing to do with alleged issues between the two states. This is conceptual serving the need to take the diplomatic war with Serbia to a new dimension. The diplomatic war with Serbia cannot be won by playing domestic politics with the foreign policy and foreign policy with domestic politics and by visiting Tirana and twisting the knife of vulgar national- folklorism. Politics, the diplomatic war are fought through means other than the ones used before the freedom was won. Facebook, Instagram, and statements do not replace rifles and are not used as rifles, or as cannons, or as machine guns, or as grenades, or as bombs, because they simply and only hurt and injure themselves, and they fail to hurt and injure the opponent or the rival in the area of the diplomatic warfare. If we were to resort to that kind of politics, we would have never make the power interconnection line between Albania and Kosovo operational. The launch of the power transmission line is thousand times more valuable than the pseudo-patriotic and national-folkloric statements.

 – Mr. Prime Minister, based on the UN Report and the findings of that report, Albania is one of the poorest countries with highest oil prices in Europe and Albania leaves behind only two countries on the globe, Sweden and Hong Kong. Do you have any consideration, an opinion on this issue?

– Businesses have been seriously affected since the movement restrictions were imposed, first from 10 pm to six am and then 8:30 pm to six am. Have you been mulling plans to provide a new relief package for businesses, taking notice of their request?

PM Edi Rama: We have provided the largest relief package ever approved in the history of the country and the region by introducing a zero profit tax rate on all small and medium businesses – as they were used to be considered not long time ago, but small businesses from now on – with an annual turnover of $140.000 starting on January 1. It is the biggest possible relief and actually the biggest one ever approved in whole region. No other country in the region has scrapped profit tax on small businesses. In no other country in the region businesses are completely freed from having to pay anything in profit taxes and not a single penny in Value Added Tax for an annual turnover up to $100.000. Such a big relief package is introduced in no other country. This is because one should best calculate both dimensions; one dimension implies what the government and the state has directly provided in cash, and what it has removed from its coffers in order to transfer to the business and the citizens’ coffers. It is absolutely unquestionable that the impact of this measure will be extremely positive and it is not a measure to be applied from January to April, when the general elections are slated to be hold, but it will remain into force until 2029, at least.

As for the oil price is concerned, I have explained it a thousand and one times, the oil price in Albania includes the entire structure and the circulation or road tax and so on. If we divide these, as it is the case in other countries, where it is paid twice, not once, then we would near the average price parameters everywhere else. So, the oil price in other countries is paid twice. The road tax is paid separately and the price for each litre of oil is paid separately, while the two are integrated here in Albania. The two payments have been integrated under the previous government and it is actually one of the few wise decisions the previous government has made. This is the reason why the oil price is high, but it doesn’t cost more to citizens who consumes oil here compared to the citizens in other countries, where they pay for the oil twice. I have constantly reiterated it is just a structural matter of the price.

– Mr. Prime Minister, the EU member states are set to start the vaccination process on Monday, while a certain number of vaccine doses have been also delivered to Serbia, where the Prime Minister received the first dose of the vaccine earlier today. Is there any date when the vaccine is supposed to arrive in Albania, despite the fact that you have stated that you expect the vaccine to be delivered to Albania in the first two months of next year. Is there a concrete date?

PM Edi Rama: There is “no despite”, because this is completely dependent. It is what I have already stated and we are working on this issue every day. You should bear in mind that what is said in the media and what is commented on the TV studios is completely different from the reality of the vaccine situation. The vaccine quantities being delivered to the most powerful countries are much lower compared to their original expectations. They are still refraining from reporting the quantity of vaccine doses and I am sure you will soon hear them saying they have received enough doses just to start the vaccination process. Then you will begin to figure out that what is being said on TV studios and written on news websites is completely something else, and the fact that transparency has yet to be made, because the problem is that the demand is exponentially much higher than the vaccine production capacities and extremely much lower than the demand. Of course, this is a serious problem in the initial phase, as the companies are actually increasing production.

Don’t forget that the United States has banned export of any quantity of the Pfizer vaccine and the entire production is to be absorbed by the United States. This is another problem. Not a single dose would be allowed to be taken out of the United States to other countries.

We are constantly communicating with the three companies, namely Pfizer, Astra Zeneca and the Moderna. I am very confident and in the meantime we are communicating with a number of friendly countries, and, as you already know, the European Union has made a decision – a very regrettable one for the Western Balkan countries, so to say – because the region will be provided with the vaccine leftovers. But there is no surplus of the vaccine supplies, indeed. There is a serious problem every country faces, because the supplies of the vaccine are much lower than they had originally planned. However, we are communicating with some friendly countries, I cannot name for now. What I know I can say is that we won’t be trailing others and that we will start administering the first vaccine deliveries early next year. I can’t set a date for this. I have hinted that the vaccination could begin in the two first months of the next year, and I don’t want to provide more information on this today, because it is not fully confirmed. So, it could happen that the vaccination can start earlier, or a bit latter, but the vaccination process in Albania will definitely begin in the two first months of the next year and we will then face no problems, because the vaccine deliveries to every country will start growing soon. What I would like to underline is that, unfortunately, diplomacy, personal relations, friendship and contacts are what matter most even when it comes to the vaccine. That is to say, it is really an intense war waged by all countries and going on behind the scenes in order to secure the largest vaccine quantities possible and it is really, like the communist era long queues to get a bottle of milk, where instead of the inhabitants coming down to put the bottle on the queue, this time it is the states doing so. This is the situation. But I would tell everyone to remain calm, because, as we have already demonstrated it earlier, we know best than anyone else to play the beggar’s role when we have to do so for the sake of Albania.

– Given that an answer was provided to the question about a relief package for the businesses affected by the restriction measures, allow me to ask a question to the Infrastructure and Energy Minister. Mrs. Balluku, what is happening with Vlora international airport project? We have learned that a complaint has been filed against the tender for the construction of the airport. Do you think this would further delay announcement of the winners and the project?

Minister Balluku: It is true that one of the operators participating in the tender for the construction of Vlora international airport has filed a complaint. It is a normal procedure. We would deny nobody the right to complain over the process. So, the complaint is being examined by the Public Procurement Agency. The Ministry has issued the directive for the establishment of the commission according to data and the deadlines as stipulated by the law. However, I would consider it a positive move. It could delay the process for another two weeks, since yesterday was the day when we were supposed to conclude the process and evaluate the bids, but, on the other hand, the fact that there are operators that are interested, address questions and complaints shows that the process is dynamic, because, as you all know, the process was suspended in March because of the blow the air transport suffered due to the pandemic. And to be fair, despite the fact that the entire European aviation community hoped to recover, the recovery was very sluggish during the summer and we still face same conditions as we did at the beginning of last year. So let’s look positively at the fact that yesterday there was a complaint by an operator, given that we find… [interruption]

-We started this conference in fact by providing a summary on the reduction of the electricity price for households since 2014. However, we must emphasize that business today pays 14 lek for renewable energy, which shows that electricity price per kilowatt /hour for business has increased. I want to ask, when and how much will you cut the electricity price for the household consumer and business, of course. In the absence of energy diversification, reports still suggest that prices could be lowered. When do you plan to make such a decision?

PM Edi Rama: I didn’t understand this. Who is suggesting that the electricity price could be lowered?

– The reports suggest it, Mr. Prime Minister. If we were to make a simple analysis, it turns out that Albania ranks fifth for renewable energy generation in Europe and it is one of the top countries with the highest electricity price for households and businesses.

PM Edi Rama: How did you jump to this conclusion and claim that Albania is one of the countries with the highest electricity prices in Europe?

– I can show you some reports that I don’t posses now, but I can forward them later.

PM Edi Rama: Ok, I got it. You won’t be able to forward anything of this kind, because it simply doesn’t exist. The electricity price for consumers is absolutely not one of the highest in Europe, as you put it. Absolutely not. This is not true. Since you read reports, then you should take a look at the electricity prices for the households in 2013 and the electricity price today. I am going to help you and you can verify the data. The electricity price used to be 13.5 lek and it is currently 9.5 lek. The electricity price is 9.5 lek today. Is it a lower or a higher price than 13.5 lek?

In other words, the electricity price for the households has been reduced. The electricity price is absolutely not the lowest, but on the contrary it is a price we have been fighting to maintain it at the current rate, because, if we were to let it comply with the free market principles, then the price would have edged up. But we have done utmost efforts to maintain the current price rate in order to protect the households. It is true that the electricity prices for the business has been increased and this is not a secret at all, because we have said it and it is part of our principle, whoever earns more, will pay more and so on. The Minister can provide a more detailed explanation.

Minister Balluku: The market liberalization, as the Prime Minister already noted, is a constant request from the European Union and the Energy Secretariat and the expression that we have done utmost effort to maintain the electricity price for the households unchanged, it means that we have subsidized this electricity price through the state budget money. In other words, the state budget is affected by our decision to maintain the current electricity price rate for the households unchanged. We have made efforts to make sure that the state budget covers entire difference created because of the lower electricity price. Albania is definitely a renewable energy producing country, but if it was to generate non-renewable energy, when it is transmitted to the final consumer, it doesn’t make any difference. It has to do with us, it has to do with the policies or the government, it has to do with the EU policies on whether the energy is renewable or non-renewable, hydropower or electricity generated by thermal power plants, wind power parks or nuclear energy plans. It has nothing to do with this. Of course, what you need to realize is that the government has delayed any increase in the electricity price in order to protect the households and incurring a collateral damage to the state budget each year. In the meantime, as far as the business consumers are concerned, we are forced to observe the free market rules. What I already said that new capacities need to be built is actually very important. I mean that the power generated by the photovoltaic parks in Karavasta or Spitalle to be auctioned at the power exchange, while the remaining quantity due to be purchased by the Power Distribution Operator would increase the power exchange liquidities, therefore reducing the electricity price for the businesses. It is a true electricity cycle that everyone should understand. When we continue to invest in energy resources, when we encourage private sector to invest in the energy resources the reason is exactly this, because this is what the free market creates, with the government not entitled to control the electricity price.

PM Edi Rama: To be clear, the electricity price we pay as household consumers is subsidized by the state. The state budget covers the cost incurred by the household consumers, because the real price is much higher than the price consumers currently pay. For this reason there is no chance that what is said, which is one of the highest prices in Europe for families, does not exist. In terms of business, it is a free market and of course it pays according to market conditions.

-Mr. Prime Minister, I want ask a question mainly concerning the electoral process. The parties have agreed on the use of the technology in the elections. The Central Election Commission has made a calculation of the amount of money needed to implement this process, but we would like to know when the government is going to earmark the due funding to support this process four months ahead of the election date.

PM Edi Rama: The government has allocated the funding required by the Central Election Commission. The state budget includes a section for CEC and of course a part of the fund for CEC has been already allocated.

 – I have a question for the Minister, who said that Albania has been hit by drought for energy production recently, while it was just few days ago when the interconnection line with Kosovo was made operational. I want to know whether this interconnection line will be used for power exchange between Albania and Kosovo, as it has been one of the widely-mentioned issues.

Minister Belinda Balluku: Yes, it is definitely a fact that Albania is experiencing a dry year and all available interconnection lines, like the one with Kosovo, the ones with Montenegro and with Greece, will be used. Of course, we always buy this energy through a negotiation that takes place a day earlier, so we will buy electricity at a cheaper price, regardless of which interconnection line it will come from. It is the price that sets the quantity we draw and not the preference for the line. The lines are all functional and I hope the fourth line will become operational very soon.

– I would like to focus on the Durres port project. An accord was signed a month ago with the United Arab Emirates on construction of 2000 housing units in Durres and, in the meantime, another agreement has been signed to allow Arab investors to invest in Durres Port. I would like to specifically ask you what kind of investment is this. Or is this project perhaps a reward for building the houses in Durres?

I want to correct the Prime Minister that the government of Avdullah Hoti in Kosovo has fallen after the Constitutional Court ruling and Kosovo will hold again early elections. I would like to know whether you would approve a request from Kosovo’s acting President Vjosa Osmani for the Assembly of Albania to adopt a resolution condemning Serbian genocide. Would you approve this resolution?

PM Edi Rama: I don’t understand and I don’t see it this way; however I won’t delve into this aspect. That is the government of Kosovo and it has represented Kosovo, it has signed on behalf of Kosovo and it can’t be worse for a country than its international representation becomes subject to domestic politics, as the country could become ridiculous.

As for the resolution to condemn genocide, the Socialist Party and the Assembly of Albania, but the Socialist Party alone has adopted as many as 15 resolutions and the history of the war for the freedom of Kosovo doesn’t begin with Vjosa Osmani as acting president, nor with Albin Kurti as prime minister hopeful and neither with me nor with anyone else. It is a long history and it seems to me that the Albanian parliament, in more than one case has condemned genocide, ethnic cleansing, and atrocities. So this is another moment to realize that playing politics with the foreign policy is wrong. It is completely wrong. This alteration has cost a lot to Kosovo over these years, this dramatic mutation of domestic politics into foreign policy and foreign policy into domestic policy.

As for the port, the seaport of Durres has no longer its place as a cargo port there. We have stated this long time ago and I am now very happy we have finally found such a powerful strategic and internationally lauded partner like the United Arab Emirates, as well as the people from the United Arab Emirates involved in this project designed to transform the cargo port currently located at the heart of the city into one of the most attractive tourist ports in the Mediterranean. And this has nothing to do with the housing units. Construction of the new houses for the quake-affected families is a pledge of support by the Crown Prince since we met back then and a pledge under the International Donors’ Conference. Their construction has to do with the constant demand and effort on our side to attract big investors in the country. For years now we have been looking for a big investor who could make this big dream come true and apparently, I hope we have found it. So, the two are completely irrelevant to each other.

–  Kastrati group is reportedly launching negotiations to acquire Tirana International Airport, or buy the shares of the Chinese company. To your knowledge, when the deal is expected to be finalized? And since this is about a public asset, will this agreement turn out to be something positive for the citizens? I mean, will citizens benefit reduced ticket prices?

A question for you Mr. Prime Minister; A day ago, a member of the Technical Committee of Experts, Dritan Ulqinaku, said that COVAX Facility, the global mechanism through which Albania has secured a quantity of the COVID-19 vaccines, has provided a reply to the Ministry of Health. I don’t know whether you are aware of the COVAX response to the Ministry of Health? And as part of this question, we have seen leaders of several countries receiving the first dose of the vaccine live on TV to convey their message on the health protection, but probably also to respond to a debate over the vaccine effectiveness. Will you receive the vaccine live on TV?

Minister Belinda Balluku: Thank you for the information, but I don’t know whether it is true. We have no information about it, I mean the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy has no information about it and therefore I can’t provide any answer on what Kastrati group and the company which manages the concession or what any other company are doing. I have no information whether the company managing the concession of the Tirana International Airport has decided to sell the concession. We don’t involve in such phases. Once something concrete is forwarded to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, I mean once the request to transfer the shares, it is only then when I will issue a statement. Until then, we have no information and I have no comment to make on the issue. Thank you!

PM Edi Rama: This has to do with the fact that it is not about a public asset, but a private one. The airport is owned by private companies. I mean, it is a public property managed by the private. It is not a state-managed asset and the state has no role to play when it comes to the shares and who buys or sells these shares. Let’s not forget that the company managing the concession of the airport today is the next in line. There were other companies previously that have sold their shares to the current company managing the concession and it is up to the company to decide what to do and where to transfer its shares. Of course, as soon as a transaction is conducted, the government has the duty and the right to intervene and check accordance and enforcement of entire set of criteria and rules. It is not a surprise that this could be true, just like it is not a surprise that it could be simply a process that have always happened and will continue to happen between private companies.

As far as the COVID-19 vaccine is concerned, I don’t know what you mean by the question “whether the Ministry of Health has received a reply from COVAX.” What I know is that we are in a position, neither more nor less, but similar to the position of other countries in the region that are not EU members. I want to assure you that the EU member states themselves are also in an extremely difficult position because a planning apparently an enormous one and far from the real opportunities of today and everyone now is hinting at much smaller quantities of the vaccine doses than they had hoped for.

As for the question whether I would receive the vaccine live on TV or via recorded footages, this remains to be seen at the right moment.

– I have very carefully followed your statements about the power interconnection line with Kosovo and you have repeatedly emphasized that the line became operational thanks to the Balkan mini-Schengen. In the meantime, I have also followed the debates in Kosovo, somehow suggesting this has nothing to do with the Balkan Schengen. Can you explain in detail how this has affected, perhaps to clarify the public as well?

PM Edi Rama: Who has said “it has nothing to do with it,” because I haven’t come across such debates.

-Direct questions like “how much the Balkan Schengen has impacted the project” have been asked in debates in Kosovo, but some have said that making the power interconnection operational has nothing to do with the Balkan Schengen.

PM Rama: How come then that Serbia lifted its veto? Did it happen magically or because of the pressure exercised by Pristina’s national-folklorists via Facebook? I don’t understand this? I already clarified on this and it is as clear as daylight that the line is part of this process in the sense of creating a platform of relations and interactions, with Serbia being in a more difficult position within this framework rather than outside it. And it is much easier for Serbia to resort to actions and negative approaches to those choosing to remain outside this framework while it is much more difficult for it to do so when inside this framework. I don’t know how to explain this to those who are unwilling to understand or are unable to understand it. However, I know this is the only way and I am sure about it. This is the way that eventually would lead to Kosovo’s recognition. But, of course, this is a vision and a strategy; it is not a blind tactic how to win the upcoming elections. This is how to win the battle of the next generation and how to finally conclude a process that could last even 2000 years, should everyone sticks to the refractory positions and if the domestic politics is transformed into foreign policy and vice-versa, which has exhausted Kosovo internationally and has reduced the country’s reputation drastically. Thank you!

– I have a question about the today’s presentation. In almost all recent conferences, you have been – I would use the term “very generous” – as you have always promised something related to the topic you presented, I mean agriculture, the bonus for retirees, and for the free vaccine. However, you promised nothing about reducing the electricity price for households, despite all these positive accomplishments presented by Minister Balluku.

PM Edi Rama: What does this mean, because this is really strange? Lulzim Basha, who has no power and will never have it, can cut the electricity price, but what this government can do is that it prevents the electricity price from increasing by continuing to subsidize the electricity price for every electricity bill consumers pay. The government pays extra money to the Power Distributor Operator coffers for each electricity bill of the household consumers. Not every promise can be kept when you project them, as things happen, just like it was the case with Vlora airport. We couldn’t predict the pandemic, yet it happened and it happens that some projects can be delayed. There are a lot of things that take place in the process and promises may take time that goes beyond your projections. But all the promises we have made and are making are promises based on our opportunities. But lowering the electricity price is a promise we cannot fulfil, because it is not based on any kind of reasoning. This is something that can be done – as I already said – by Lulzim who has no power of whatsoever and will never have. We can’t do that.

Thank you!