Prime Minister Edi Rama’s answers to opposition MP questions:

 

MP Orjola Pampuri: (PM) Rama has taken private charter flights not to tackle Albanians’ woes, but for his own pleasure. Edi Rama is spending Albanian taxpayers’ money.

PM Edi Rama: This is not actually the case. I am the country’s first Prime Minister not to use the state’s funds for rare private trips with my family.

MP Orjola Pampuri: Did you use a private charter to fly for an interview with”Manager Magazine”?

PM Edi Rama: No, I have booked return ticket and Lufthansa economy class together with my wife and the little son.

MP Orjola Pampuri: How much money did you spend only on the charter in this luxury trip?

PM Edi Rama: The Lufthansa economy class fare was 345 Euro.

MP Orjola Pampuri: Who signed for his travels? Who paid for them? 

PM Edi Rama: My average annual expenses for my official trips, which are covered by the Prime Minister office’s fund, is lower than the annual average trip spending incurred by my predecessors and this is all for the simple reason that they used to book business class, while I have booked economy class mostly, except in some special cases. The same goes for my cabinet members. Since 2020 when Albania headed the OSCE Chairmanship, an agreement was signed with the Air Albania carrier and the travel expenses in 2021 were below the average of previous years.

MP Orjola Pampuri: A private trip by Prime Minister Edi Rama costs 120,000 euros from the Albanian taxpayers’ money.

PM Edi Rama: The highest annual spending to cover my official trips abroad is estimated at 4.623.089 lek in 2014, whereas the alleged amount of 120,000 euro for the fuel of a private jet only is the result of the very same science-fiction mathematics that shows how one can sit 5004 delegates in 1958 seats at the Palace of Congresses.