VZCZCXRO9971
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTI #0180/01 0700729
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 100729Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6798
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000180 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE 
DEPT OF JUSTICE FOR OPDAT, ICITAP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM AL
 
SUBJECT: THIS WEEK IN ALBANIA, MARCH 1-7, 2008 
 
 
¶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. 
 
---------------------- 
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS 
---------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) BUSINESS AS USUAL?  NOT ANYMORE: This week in Albania, media 
reported that two Albanian Members of Parliament brought birthday 
gifts to a public official who celebrated his 42nd birthday in 
detention.  The Property Registration official was arrested last 
week by the Financial Crimes Unit of the Tirana Prosecutor General's 
office.  The successful operation led to the arrest of four 
officials who are implicated in a scheme to forge property titles 
for a prime construction site in Tirana worth several million 
dollars.  The prosecutor had been investigating the case for two 
months following a report filed by the legitimate owner of the land. 
 Two months ago, law enforcement authorities arrested a local mayor, 
two former mayors, and five local government officials involved in 
property title forgery.  The public perception is that these arrests 
are only the tip of the iceberg. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The arrests mark a welcome success for law enforcement 
agencies fighting against corruption.  Property registration offices 
suffer from a reputation for being among the worst centers of 
corruption, second only to the courts.  This is the first major blow 
against corrupt property registration officials.  The two law 
enforcement operations have also demonstrated that the Prosecutor's 
office is now able to take action in these cases in spite of the 
political affiliations of those targeted; the visit of the MPs 
demonstrates that the officials arrested had close ties within 
Democratic Party circles.  The case also highlights the continuing 
practice of rewarding party militants with potentially lucrative 
positions. 
 
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS 
--------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) URGENT NEED FOR PENSION REFORM - IT'S A LONG WAY DOWN: The 
Ministry of Finance and the Social Insurance Institute, with the 
support of the World Bank, organized a round table that took stock 
of the current pension system in Albania.  The discussion aimed at 
launching an initiative to establish a wide political and public 
consensus to adopt a new reform model for the pension system.  The 
Albanian Minister of Finance, Ridvan Bode, emphasized that for such 
reforms to succeed, they must enjoy the support of the entire 
political spectrum and have social consensus.  The new proposed 
reform, drafted with the assistance of World Bank experts, 
anticipates the adoption of the three columns system.  Citizens 
could select among three options under this proposal: the current 
compulsory public pension plan, a mixed public and private pension 
system or a completely private pension plan. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Social insurance reform is "the reform" for many 
governments worldwide.  The Albanian system needs to address two 
major issues: the low level of benefits it offers and the current 
system's unreliable financial sustainability.  Over the past several 
years the GOA has increased pension payments in the framework of a 
poverty alleviation strategy.  However, retirement benefits are 
still insufficient to ensure basic living conditions, especially for 
those in rural areas.  The massive flows of emigrants into towns and 
the large degree of informality in the labor market make the system 
unsustainable despite Albania's young population.  There have been 
attempts to diversify benefits and involve the private sector.  To 
date, there are three private pension institutions active in 
Albania, which are growing due to public anxiety about the viability 
of the public pension system.  However, the government needs to 
develop a sound financial environment, a viable stock market, and 
other financial structures to sustain these private initiatives. 
While pension reform currently appears unavoidable, it is a 
politically sensitive issue suffering from poor timing since there 
is just one year until national elections in 2009. 
 
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EDUCATION AND CULTURE 
--------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) WANT A COFFEE?: There is something to be said about the 
dynamics of social interactions and the rule of law in every 
developing country.  The amount of faith that individuals place in 
their politicians, governments, and institutions depends on past 
history as well as fluctuating social dynamics that characterize 
countries in transition.  To a foreigner who comes to work in 
Albania, the current state of institution-building may appear 
 
TIRANA 00000180  002 OF 002 
 
 
wanting and getting things done, an impossible task.  But little do 
you know that the best working institution in Albania is the only 
public space available: the Coffee Shop! 
 
¶7.  (U) Albanians discuss their problems in the coffee shop, 
including politicians debating initiatives, government workers 
hashing out policy, and students discussing exam questions and 
fashion trends.  At times, this occurs just to have face-to-face 
interactions with one another to build a personal relationship or 
professional connection.  Others find it easier to explore solutions 
to personal problems or frustrating situations in their daily lives. 
 Since nepotism was widely established in Albania during communist 
times (where you were always looking for friends to find more bread 
and milk in the store), the dynamics of personal interactions are 
still strong today and account for a great deal of time and energy 
in the decisions people make.  Therefore, the coffee shop becomes 
the ultimate institution of official complaining, problem-solving, 
and entertainment for the majority of the Albanian population.  So, 
next time you see people sitting in a coffee shop, don't think of it 
as a waste of time, but as an all-purpose social institution for a 
country in transition. 
 
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STORY OF THE WEEK 
----------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) TRANSPARENT PROSECUTOR: It is common knowledge that Albanian 
prosecutors lack basic office infrastructure.  One daily reported 
that a Pogradec prosecutor, due to the lack of office equipment, 
walked into an internet cafe in that southeastern Albanian city to 
draft and print two official documents.  The first was a basic 
prosecution letter.  The second was considerably more important.  It 
contained all the evidence the prosecutor had collected in the 
investigation of a smuggler.  In a rush, the prosecutor printed the 
two documents and promptly left the internet cafe.  Unfortunately, 
she forgot to delete the two documents from the computer and half of 
Pogradec read the once confidential documents. 
 
----------------- 
QUOTE OF THE WEEK 
----------------- 
 
¶9.  (U) ". . . If you enter the Socialist Party today, as in the 
old-time buses most people will say: Don't talk to the driver.  When 
you ask them where the bus is going, they point their finger to the 
driver and look as (if) they are saying:  Only he knows.  When you 
are ready to ask the driver where we are going, people will point to 
the written instruction saying:  Don't talk to the driver.  What I 
said sounds without doubt as a sad joke, and many of my friends 
would say:  It is not important where we are going; it is important 
that the bus is moving.  Yes, this is true.  The bus is moving, but 
the road is long and I cannot remain without speaking . . ." 
 
¶10.  (U) Ben Blushi (former Socialist Party (SP) Secretary General 
and former Chairman of the SP parliamentary group) in an interview 
describing the present situation of the Socialist Party of Albania. 
 
 
WITHERS