Representatives of the ‘Nisma Thurje’ (Hashtag Initiative) have filed criminal charges to SPAK against officials of the Agency of Agriculture (AZHBR) and the former Minister of Agriculture Frida Krifca over suspicion of abuse of office and corruption. This is the second time that the IPARD program officially goes to SPAK, which previously claimed it was incompetent to investigate the case.
The temporary suspension of the IPARD II agriculture programme in Albania, after EU suspicions of corruption, is only the tip of the iceberg of the 94.6 million euros grant package. The program was transformed into an “exclusive club” for big companies and companies tied to politics and crime. Meanwhile, in North Macedonia, the program exposed similar ties, however, they were more sporadic and more minimal compared to Albania.
The Minister of Agriculture, Frida Krifca, defended at the Parliament the IPARD II Program, which she had led when she was the director of the agency which manages EU funds for agriculture, and told the opposition that accusations were an attack against the entire sector. Her reaction came as a result of the extreme measure taken by the EU to temporarily suspend reimbursement on corruption suspicions.
The Office of the EU Delegation in Tirana has confirmed suspicions of corruption with EU funds earmarked for Albanian agriculture. Earlier, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) did not give details to Amfora over this investigation, however, the findings forced the EU Commission to temporarily suspend grants until the submission of the investigation report.
In Albania, it results that there are at least 500 artisans who have been voluntarily registered into the National Chamber of Crafts and hundreds more who are unregistered and are experiencing a difficult time in their businesses due to the price hikes crises and are yet to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic consequences.
Amfora Media publishes the video-documentary of the first season of the cycle “Culture in 1 Minute”, dedicated to the cultural heritage and history of Albania, which started with events and characters that developed the activity in Durrës and influenced the fate of the empires of the time.
