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FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA
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INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
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RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 0016

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000071 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON PGOV PREL AL
 
SUBJECT: THIS WEEK IN ALBANIA, JANUARY 28 - FEBRUARY 1 
 
REF: 08 TIRANA 1078 
 
TIRANA 00000071  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (U) The following is a weekly report prepared by Embassy 
Tirana's local staff to provide political and economic context and 
insight into developments in Albania.  These updates will supplement 
post's DAR reports and reporting cables. 
 
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS 
--------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Oil In Them There Hills?:  Albanian media reacted swiftly 
to the news released by Manas Petroleum regarding potential large 
oil and gas reserves in Albania.  In December 2007, Manas Petroleum, 
an international oil and gas exploration company headquartered in 
Switzerland, was awarded a concession by the Albanian government to 
explore Northern Albania for oil and gas reserves.  Manas released 
findings from a report compiled by Gustavson Associates, a U.S. 
energy cons   ery a "Saudi Arabian" dream for Albania. 
Representatives of Manas Petroleum did not hide their enthusiasm 
regarding the report's main findings.  Albania has proven oil 
reserves of 198 million barrels which is more than half the reserves 
for the entire region.  However, the country extracts a mere 8,000 
barrels per day, supplying only 25-30 percent of Albania's growing 
oil needs.  As the price of oil continues to skyrocket, the prospect 
of unearthing oil reserves in Albania may turn a dream into a 
reality.  (Note: Post will report further developments on the Manas 
study septel.) 
 
 
¶4.  (U) Take the Test on Albanian Customs Performance: When the 
Albanian Customs' General Director proudly announced that 2007 
customs revenues hit 102 percent of the agency's targeted 
projections, all were praised.  The Director said anti-smuggling 
efforts, better investigations, proper law enforcement, and 
modernization spurred the impressive performance.  Only one item in 
the press release suggests underperformance - cigarettes. In 2007, 
Albania officially imported 831 tons of cigarettes, 20 percent less 
than in 2006.  Surprisingly, while Albanians consumed more fuel 
because of the electricity crisis, drank more alcohol, and drank 
more coffee to relieve stress caused by long electricity shortages, 
they suddenly decided to quit smoking.  The official reduction in 
cigarette imports was all the more curious given the long history of 
cigarette smuggling throughout a region full of habitual smokers. 
The public seeks to uncover why smoking has decreased in the past 
year. Suggestions are welcome: 
 
a) Albanians are obeying last year's poorly enforced ban on smoking 
in public places; 
b) They suddenly became aware of smoking's health risks; 
c) Increased cigarette prices discouraged them from smoking; or 
d) Custom's anti-smuggling efforts are an area for improvement for 
the government. 
 
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SOCIAL INDICATORS 
----------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) May You Never Go to Hospital!: As Albania's Ministry of 
Health struggles to increase levels of adequate health care across 
the country, the poor state of the country's medical equipment begs 
for attention.  Albania's 36 regional hospitals are currently 
plagued with outdated, dilapidated medical equipment.  Most have 
archaic apparatus dating back three decades, half of which is 
broken, malfunctioning, or unusable due to lack of maintenance. 
Patients are often advised to wait weeks or even months for 
equipment to be fixed to have rudimentary tests and examinations 
performed.  There are even medical centers, albeit in rural areas 
where state services traditionally lag behind those provided in 
urban centers, which lack such basic amenities as a patient's bed. 
Albanian Ministry of Health officials stated that they plan to 
perform an inventory of all medical equipment to begin to remedy the 
current lack of proper, working equipment in hospitals.  A further 
indignity that accosts Albanians are the small, routine bribes that 
must be paid to virtually everyone from the hospital cleaning lady 
to administrative staff up to the doctors treating them for 
Albanians to receive their "free" healthcare.  The common wish 
 
TIRANA 00000071  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
exchanged between Albanians continues to be, "May you never go to 
hospital."  (Note: The GOA's FY08 national budget boosts spending 
for the health sector to USD 345 million or 2.9 percent of GDP, up 
from 2.1 percent in 2006.  See 07 Tirana 1078.) 
 
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CULTURE 
------- 
 
¶6.  (U) Art Piece Stirs Local Outcry: A 1987 painting of the 
infamous Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha and his wife strolling in the 
southeastern city of Pogradec is on display in a hotel restaurant in 
Drilon.  During Communism, Drilon was one of many areas Hoxha 
forbade ordinary Albanian citizens to visit between 1964 and 1985. 
Once utilized by the Hoxha family for vacations, the restaurant is 
receiving mixed reactions over the painting from patrons.  The 
painting is offered for sale for 3,500 euros and has provoked fierce 
reactions from diners, some of whom were quoted by local media: "No 
way - it's a provocation," and, "It's irritating to look at that 
face again," said another.  One restaurant customer was not bothered 
by the Hoxha portrait: "We are in a democracy.  Anything can 
happen." 
 
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HISTORY 
------- 
 
¶7.  (U) Holocaust Remembrance Day: This week Albania commemorated 
Holocaust Remembrance Day with a series of high profile events aimed 
at casting light on the country's record of assisting and harboring 
Jews during World War II.  The Honorable Warren L. Miller, Chairman 
of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage 
Abroad, addressed the Albanian Parliament in a plenary session 
attended by Prime Minister Berisha, Members of Parliament and 
Albanian family members whom saved Jews during the Holocaust.  "One 
simple fact says it all," stated Miller, "Albania was the only 
country in Europe which had a larger Jewish population after the 
Second World War than before."  Prior to Miller's address, Prime 
Minister Berisha affirmed, "On this day, we take pride in the fact 
that the Albanian(s), even though under a savage occupation, not 
only offered no cooperation in the exterminating hunt against the 
Jewish community, but they also defended them with their own lives." 
 
 
¶8.  (U) Prior to World War II, there were only 200 known Jews in 
Albania.  By the end of the Second World War, Albania had 
2,500-3,000 Jews from neighboring areas, including Dalmatia, 
Montenegro, Kosovo, Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Greece. 
Albanian quisling authorities refused to provide the Germans with a 
list of Jews, as Albanian families vowed to provide shelter to 
thousands.  Mr. Refik Veseli was the first of 60 Albanians 
recognized as a "righteous person" by the State of Israel for aiding 
Jews during the Holocaust.  When asked why so many Albanians saved 
Jews, Veseli replied, "There are no foreigners in Albania, only 
guests, and the Albanian moral code requires that guests be treated 
hospitably." 
¶9.  (U) Story of the Week: "Another here was a farmer in Kruja, Sulo 
Mecaj, who in 1943 sheltered 10 Jews in his home.  When he was 
warned that Germans were coming to his house to search for Jews, he 
told the Jews to (use) a crawl space he had prepared for them in the 
attic.  The Jews were terrified of being found - and one asked what 
would happen if the Germans were to set fire to the house.  To 
reassure them, Sulo Mecaj told his only son to hide with the Jews in 
the attic, and suffer their fate if the house was set on fire. 
Years later, his son said he understood why his father put his life 
in danger- it was a matter of honor." 
Excerpts from the remarks of Warren L. Miller, Chairman U.S. 
Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad, 
delivered to a session of the Albanian Parliament on the Holocaust 
Remembrance Day. 
WITHERS