The government is changing its attitude to PPP, no
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Amendments to the law, following requests made by all internationals. The government has prepared some changes to the law "On Private Public Partnership (PPP)", where the essence is that no more unsolicited bids will be accepted. Government meeting
Editorial
24 May, 07:55 | Last update: May 24, 7:59 am
After repeated remarks by the International Monetary Fund and the European Union on the risks posed to the macroeconomics of concessions where the state joins the partnership with privation, it appears that the government has prepared some changes to the law "On Private Public Partnership (PPP)", where the essence is no bids will be accepted.
Minister of Finance and Economy, Arben Ahmetaj, said yesterday during an event to present the project "PAST 4 Future - Promoting Accessible and Sustainable Tourism" that "there has been a long discussion between us, the World Bank, the Monetary Fund International, European Commission and USAID. In practice, the government is going through a much wider phase in terms of risk management. "
According to him, the draft has gone to think-tank institutions and, starting from 2019, the government, through these changes in the law, will not allow unsuccessful bidding in many sectors and will continue only with the required bids. This, said the head of public finances, makes a huge difference in all that debate or question marks that have emerged for these 27 years in terms of PPPs or concessions.
Law
The problem arises mainly from the procedure of an unsolicited bid. The current law on public-private partnership recognizes two mechanisms for granting concessions. The first mechanism is when the government wants to put into operation a public asset, such as a stream with potential for electricity generation, and throws it into the tender. But this is not the scheme that Albanian governments, the past and the present, have liked.
They liked the other way in which a private lawyer claims to have discovered an idea that the government did not remember. In this case, the company makes a proposal to the government despite the fact that the government has not requested such a proposal. The Government judges the proposal and comes to the conclusion that it is worthwhile and in return, gives the proposer a bonus, a predetermined advantage in a bid that theoretically will accept bids for this proposal. Indeed, this is the road that closes the opportunity for the race and predicates the winner.
The government in the past gave hundreds of concession contracts to build hydropower plants. The current government pushed further the use of this scheme by providing not only contracts for construction of hydropower plants, but also road construction contracts worth hundreds of millions of euros. In this context, Rama has also announced a one billion dollar concession package.
Debts
The next big problem is a risky debt rise, hidden under private financing. The International Monetary Fund first expressed concerns first of the concessionary contracts in its reports on Albania, asking among other things that the costs of these contracts are counted as a public debt by a separate register under the management of the Statistics Institute. So far, the government had not taken steps to implement this recommendation.
Assessing that the Albanian government's administrative capacity for assessing the quality of investment projects is "inadequate", the International Monetary Fund urged the current government not to sign "no major new concession contract". "The government's working framework for selecting and prioritizing investment projects, as well as for assessing costs and fiscal risks, remains insufficient according to the IMF's assessment. As long as the work framework can be substantially empowered, it is better not to sign any new major PPP contracts, "IMF representative for Albania Jens Reinke said.
This is an educated language, which means that the IMF does not value the Albanian government as being able to find the most appropriate ideas for public investment and also considers it incapable of properly calculating the costs and risks involved in contract such as for the finances of the country.
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