Projects

Financed by: The British Embassy Tirana (Global Opportunities Fund)

April 2006 –March 2007

The following report presents data on the implementation of the laws on the assets of senior officials and conflict of interests, statistics related to the correctitude of filling the form of asset declaration, data on evasion from the declaration this distributed according to official’s categories.

The 2006-2007 Watchdog, attached to the Center for Transparence and Free Information, has aimed and achieved the verification of the assets of senior officials, the identification of cases and their presentation at the relevant institutions and observing the latter’s reaction, the implementation of the law on conflict of interests, identification of cases with conflict of interests, etc, according to the statistical principles, achieving reliable results after the selection of almost 3% of the declarations of assets and conflict of interests.

The work was done by a “Watchdog” group attached to the Center for Transparence and Free Information. The members of the Watchdog are journalists, lawyers, wealth assessors and civil attorney at law. The investigation covers one year, starting in April 2006 up to the end of March 2007.

The findings were achieved through investigation and expertise. Subject to the aforementioned laws are 4,200 senior or medium-level officials of the Albanian administration. They are obliged to declare their assets and their position in comparison with the task they are performing within the public administration. The project was supported by the British Embassy in Tirana (Global Opportunities Fund).
The results presented in this report along with those of the first six month period report already published and consulted by several institutions will serve to the implementation of the aforementioned laws by the Albanian administration, to the institutions assigned to check on the implementation of the laws, to the struggle against corruption within the administration and as consequence to the Albanian citizens.

The perception of corruption in Albania is still very high. It is not difficult to find hundred of cases of corruption of officials of different levels. The corruption is direct by mean of cash, corruption by mean of tenders, conflict of interest, drafting of laws in conformity of small group’s interests etc. Two of the laws approved by the Parliament, that on the asset declaration of senior officials 2003 and on the conflict of interest 2005, aim the independent control over the administration, the restriction and possible identification of cases with asset concealment or conflict of interest of senior officials.