The State reserves are left empty, ADF will turn it into a sports park

With no goods inside, with warehouses destroyed or rented out, the State Reserves are only formally administered by local Socialist Party chairmen. The main branch of the Reserves in Lundre of Tirana will be “converted” into a sports and entertainment park, endangering, in addition to the reserves, two other institutions: the Central Election Commission and the State Archives.

State reserves in crisis

In May 2022, the Centralized Purchasing Agency was forced to cancel a tender worth 33 million ALL for the purchase of food products for the account of the State Reserves, as no subject did not submit an offer. It was about the purchase of basic products, such as pasta, rice, beans, flour, oil, salt and preserves, which are stored for use in emergencies.

History has repeated itself throughout the year 2023. The failure of the tenders for the supply of State Reserve warehouses risks jeopardizing national security. Based on evidence in the field, but also on documents of the institutions themselves INA Media found that currently in the warehouses of the State Reserves there is not a single kilogram of wheat or a single liter of oil to cope with emergencies. Contrary to the law, which mandates a minimum, mandatory amount, the state’s reserves are being maintained by goods seized by the police as assets of crime.

“The warehouses of the State Reserves under the administration of the Directorate of Korça are almost empty. There are only a few goods seized by the police,” explains an employee of the Reserves in Korça. According to him, until 2013, warehouses had significant amounts of flour, oil, rice, pasta, beans and canned food, which were replaced before the expiration date; while there has been no fuel and water in the Korça Reserves since the 90s. The head of the Korça Reserves did not prefer to give a comment about the situation he was in, but delegated us to the Central Directorate.

The Dibra Reserve branch (based in Burrel) is in the same situation. According to the inventory of this branch, that INA Media has assured, it has in its warehouse only goods seized by the police, seized and confiscated cars, used in criminal activity or suspected as assets, which have been created by illegal activity. The same picture is presented in the State Reserves Branch in Fier (based in Vlora), as well as in Shkodër.

The collapse is also accepted in the minutes of the annual analysis of the Directorate of State Reserves, which INA Media has it. The reason seems absurd. The completed auctions have failed.

“For the year 2023, the DPRMSH predicted the value of 40 000 000 ALL for the purchase of food goods, 14 000 000 ALL for the purchase of industrial goods and 2 000 000 ALL for the purchase of feed for livestock. Of these, only the purchase of food goods in the amount of ALL 14 was realized. The rest remained unrealized as a result of the failure of the tendering procedures by the Contracting Authority, ASHPP. voice Purchase of industrial goods was not realized as a result of the failure of tendering procedures, while the purchase of food for livestock was realized in the amount of ALL 1″, – it is written in the minutes.

The exclusive document explains that the Food Reserves have managed to buy only “canned goods” and all others have failed.

The situation was ascertained a year ago also by the High State Control. According to this report, for the items grain, oil and small vessels, the balance is zero.

The Ministry of Defense, the institution responsible for State Reserves, in a written request to Median INA evaded the answer, using Law on Material Reserves.

“The quantity and condition of state reserve goods is secret. Under these conditions, it is not possible to make available the requested information”, said the DPRMSH.

The General Directorate of State Reserves also uses the same motive, not to show the amount of foodstuffs in the State Reserves, but this directorate seems to pass the responsibility to the Ministry of Finance and Economy.

“The Ministry of Defense, with letter no. 6201/1 prot., dated 10.11.2023, “Request for redistribution of funds in the “Civil Emergencies” budget program, addressed to the National Security Commission, in the Assembly of Albania and the Ministry of Finance and Economy, has requested a redistribution of funds in the “Civil Emergencies” budget program, in order to support RMSH with funds. This redistribution was not carried out by MFE. In the medium-term budget planning 2025-2027, RMSH has planned funds and additions to them in order to complete the state of material state reserve goods”, – responds the Directorate of Reserves regarding the non-fulfillment of its sole function.

The data show that the Ministry of Defense “allocates” very minimal funds from its budget for such an important structure, such as the State Reserves. They are not even 0.5% of the budget of the Ministry of Defense.

Referring to the law, the material reserves of the state are used to intervene operatively for the protection of the country, the population, the economy, wealth, health, etc., under emergency situations; of the state of natural disaster or other disasters or during humanitarian crises, etc.

As a consequence, they must always be ready, so the Council of Ministers in the decision of 2008 also provided for the minimum condition of the goods, which must be in the state’s warehouses. According to this decision, there must be at least 300 quintals of wheat and 200 tons of flour in the warehouse, as well as 100 liters of oil.

Violation of the law and the Decision of the Council of Ministers on the minimum quantities of a list of goods and foods is followed by several effects. Even in the case of a partial civil emergency (floods, earthquakes, etc., in a certain region) it makes the response of Civil Emergencies impossible.

“In case of an emergency, the reserves are empty, there is no time to implement the procedures in the normal way. This situation leads us to a violation of legal procedures”, says the former director of State Reserves, Irfan Dashi (2013-2018).

According to him, everything depends on the type of emergency, the number of families that need help, but no one has thought if the emergency is national.

Since the time when the structure of the State Reserves depended on the Ministry of the Interior, it administers a high number of funds, which are confiscated, but also forwarded for safekeeping by the district prosecutors. In total, the number of tools was about 4 thousand. For most of them, around 2.700, an auction was held during 2023 to be sold for scrap, but during the process of delivery from the Reserves to the company “Çekrezi sh.pk”, which won the tender, deficiencies in the number were found. According to an exclusive document, which he owns INA Media, only in the branch of Mati, 17 vehicles were missing. The General Directorate of State Reserves in a written response to Median INA affirms that it is the responsibility of the Police Directorates for the continuation of the process and this process is continuing.

Until 2003, the State Reserves were a structure that depended on the Prime Minister. Then they came under the jurisdiction of the Ministry for Local Government and Decentralization. They remained in this dependence until 2008, to be “kidnapped” by the Ministry of the Interior. After a decade, from 2019 they are like an “appendix” of the Ministry of Defense.

How the State Reserves are being alienated

On December 12, 2022, by VKM 808, the Albanian government decided that the main Agency of State Reserves, that of Lundra, with an area of ​​more than 95 hectares, with dozens of warehouses inside it, will be “flattened” and turned into an amusement and sports park. The property passed to the Albanian Development Fund, which, according to the government’s decision, should not change the destination, but the procedure of transferring the ownership of this large property has raised questions for the State Control experts. They have evidenced that the director who has been in charge of the State Reserves for years hastily agreed within one day for the alienation of this property.

“All actions, from the registration of the request for a statement by the Ministry of Defense to the return of the response from the DPRMSH, were completed within one day, on 06.10.2022. Therefore, the institutions did not need time to assess the situation and return the answer, despite the importance of this decision-making”, – says KLSH in a report of July 2023, carried out at the State Reserves.

Experts have questions about the reasons for the alienation of this property. According to them, everything is being done to serve the private villa complexes that have been built in this area.

“The decision is made to satisfy the appetites of the oligarchs, who have built next to the Reserves”, says a former head of the State Reserves on condition of anonymity.

The Albanian Development Fund itself has accepted that all this space will be put at their service.

“The transformation of this space is very necessary, to make it as accessible as possible for everyone, but also as an integral part of the residential areas that have been created in recent years near this area”, – it is stated in the arguments, that the ADF has listed, when he submitted the request to take ownership of this property to the Ministry of Defense and the Prime Minister. According to the ADF, this facility has degraded and lost its primary function, that of state reserves.

Two years after this controversial decision, the ADF project is stuck in place, while Lundra’s reserve warehouses are going out of operation, as a result of degradation, without yet finding a solution as to where they will be housed.

The talks started in February 2023. The Albanian Development Fund did not respond to the request of INA Media to clarify why an agreement has not been reached with the three institutions, where they will be relocated.

Not even the Ministry of Defense, under whose jurisdiction are the State Reserves, gives explanations, but admits that “there is still no agreement on the delivery of the property”.

Even the General Directorate of State Reserves in a written response admits that the ADF has not yet presented a project for the relocation of the institutions located in this center, nor have agreements been signed with this institution to meet the needs of the DPRMSH.

The Directorate of State Reserves says that it has informed the Albanian Development Fund that it cannot release the object without signing the bilateral agreement, but they still do not have an answer.

Inside the surface, where the warehouses of the State Reserves are, there are also two other institutions, very important for the country: the State Archives and the warehouses of the Central Election Commission (where the election material, ballot papers, boxes, etc., are kept) valuable for the integrity of the elections). In point four of the decision, the government charges the Albanian Development Fund to meet the needs of the three institutions before taking over the property. In other words, to build the warehouses for the Central Election Commission, for the State Reserves and for the State Archives. This whole process seems complex and very expensive.

The CEC has expressed its agreement in principle for the relocation of its warehouses from this complex, and has even requested a tripling of the storage capacity, to 8.450 meters² from 3.200 meters², which currently has

Despite the fact that the CEC has identified a former military ward in a more accessible area, nothing has been done so far. The CEC will continue to keep the election materials in Lund for the next elections, even though the warehouses are in unsuitable conditions.

Apart from the Lundra branch, the State Reserves have almost half of their unregistered assets in the Mortgage. “Out of 54 agencies, only 33 are equipped with a mortgage, one is in the process and 21 are unregistered”, – it is written in a confidential document of the Directorate of State Reserves on infrastructure, drawn up at the end of January 2024.

The situation is also accepted by the General Directorate of State Reserves (DPRSH) in a written response to Median INA.

But, even among these properties, some of them have been rented or sold.

According to KLSH, two properties were sold, 2 properties were leased for 1 Euro, 2 properties were leased for one year by DPRMSH, one property was transferred to the Property Handling Agency to be used as a compensation fund and 5 properties were transferred in other institutions, according to the relevant decisions of the Council of Ministers.

The panorama, which is forwarded by the General Directorate of State Reserves itself, shows that the buildings of the State Reserves and the area around them have served as “heads of power”.

According to this directorate, the former Ministry of Finance and Economy has concluded two lease contracts (emphytheosis).

In 2014, the State Reserves Agency, Dorëz, in Librazhd, with a total area of ​​1 m² (20 m² building and 38.200 m² functional area) was leased for 7.112 Euro and for a period of 30.988 years; while in 2015 the objects were leased for 1 Euro to the subject “Lorenso sh.pk” for a period of 20 years: Warehouse no. 1, Warehouse no. 2, Warehouse no. 3 of the State Reserves Agency, Plasa, Korça, with a total area of ​​8.699 m² (building 2.200 m² and functional area 6.498 m²).

This directorate admits that it has privatized thousands of square meters of buildings and hundreds of thousands of meters of land around the buildings have been sold.

Employment reserve for the ruling party

“Robert Hysenllari should be expelled from the Public Administration of the Albanian state”. This was the recommendation of the High State Control, which after an inspection of the structure of the National Civil Protection Agency found a mountain of violations and abuses. The first on the list of those responsible was Hysenllari, who held several duties in this structure.

KLSH has recommended, on April 15, 2022, to the Minister of Defense, the head of the AKMC, to ask the Disciplinary Commission at the National Civil Protection Agency to provide the recommended measures.

This is where the forgery begins. Three months after the recommendation of the SSC, the Disciplinary Commission of the National Civil Defense Agency (which was headed by Hysenllari), makes a decision, instead of dismissing the director, it imposes a suspension from the right to promotion, including an increase in the salary scale for a period of one year”. The recommendation of KLSH is softened.

Then director Hysenllari takes the decision made by the Disciplinary Committee to the Administrative Court of Tirana.

The Administrative Court, on November 23, 2022, with an argumentation of a sophistic nature, overturns the decision of the Disciplinary Commission and finally clears the figure of Robert Hysenllari, even the costs of the trial must be paid by the National Civil Protection Agency.

5 months after the decision of the Administrative Court, which no one appealed, Hysenllari was appointed to the position of General Director of State Reserves by order of the Minister of Defense, Niko Peleshi, on April 28, 2023. The appointment was originally for one month. Only for the period 02.05.2023-02.06.2023. The reasons for this one-week appointment are not explained. But, after the first term ended, he was appointed again and currently continues in the position of director.

The legal procedures of the General Director reflect in the entire administration of the State Reserves. The leaders of the local branches of the State Reserves are exponents of the Socialist Party. Likewise, the administration. Ornild Demollari, the chairman of the Socialist Party for the Municipality of Maliqi, has been at the head of the Korça Regional Directorate for a year. His two predecessors were also the presidents of the Socialist Party in the Korça district. The Regional Directorate of Dibra (located in Mat) is headed by Zeqir Losha, a member of the Presidency of the Socialist Party of Bulqiza. At the head of the Directorate of Shkodra, but with offices in Pukë, is Vili Vreoni (also in command), while in the Regional Branch of Fier, but with offices in Vlora, is Jorgo Mukaj. The situation has not improved even after the findings and recommendations of the High State Control.

“Of the 5 regional directorates, which DPRMSH has as subordinates, there are 3 (three) appointed directors and 2 (two) commanded directors”, – writes the General Directorate of State Reserves in a response to Median INA.

For experts, the frequent change of dependence has been accompanied by the degradation of the infrastructure of the Reserves and the administrative structure.

“The move to the Ministry of Defense was made as a tactic of the Albanian government to artificially increase the defense budget, as an obligation to NATO”, concludes a former head of the State Reserves.