The government intends to extend the deadline for the strategic investment law for yet another time. The proposal, presented in Parliament by the Vlora MP, Pranvera Resulaj, has caused concern among international actors. The EU Delegation in Tirana has reminded the government of Brussels’ concerns regarding the controversial law and emphasized the need for a new legal framework for investments.
Aimona Vogli
The government aims to extend the deadline for the strategic investment law once again. On Tuesday, December 10, the socialist MP from Vlora, Pranvera Resulaj, submitted a proposal to Parliament for a two-year extension of the law.
‘Since the interest from entities remains very high for this legal package, the flow and stock of foreign investments in the country are at their highest levels compared to the past decade. To avoid creating a legal vacuum and the potential consequences of such a gap, it is proposed to extend the deadline for submitting requests until December 31, 2026,’ the accompanying report argues, among other points.
The initiative, approved as a temporary legal measure in 2015, originally had a deadline of December 2018. However, since then, the deadline has been extended five times. The most recent proposal, which aims to extend it for a sixth time, has raised concerns among international stakeholders. In diplomatic terms, the European Union Delegation in Albania has expressed opposition to the extension of deadlines.
In a special statement to Faktoje.al, the European Union Delegation’s office reminds the government of Brussels’ previous concerns regarding the law, which were also emphasized in the most recent European Commission report.
‘The same report recommended prioritizing the review of investment laws into a unified investment law, which the government committed to completing by 2026 as part of the Growth Agenda Reform Plan. In this context, we expect any amendments to the current Strategic Investment Law to lead toward the gradual phase-out of the scheme,’ states the EU Delegation office in Albania.
The Delegation also mentions that it expects the legislative changes process to undergo a comprehensive public consultation and a transparent procedure.
Previously, the U.S. Department of State also expressed concerns about the strategic investment law. In its latest investment climate report, the Department highlights the significant disparity between local and foreign beneficiaries.
‘Despite the supporting legislation, very few foreign investors have taken advantage of the ‘Strategic Investor’ status, and nearly all projects have been awarded to local companies operating in the tourism sector,’ the U.S. Department of State report stresses.
‘Custom-made law’
In May 2015, the socialists, together with their governing ally, the LSI, passed the law on strategic investments with 73 votes. The initiative aimed to encourage and attract strategic investments in key sectors of the economy through favorable, facilitating, or expediting procedures for supporting and providing services to investors. The status of a strategic investor was granted to any project in energy, transport, tourism, and agriculture that invested 30 million euros, or 50 million euros for projects with a special procedure.
Moreover, the status of ‘Strategic Investment/Investor, special procedure’ was also available for projects in sectors not defined by the law, as long as the investment amount was 100 million euros.
From 2016 until December of this year, 108 projects applied for the strategic investment or strategic investor status. Of these, 48 received the status, 30 projects were rejected, and 31 are still under evaluation.
‘In the days ahead, we will likely hear about another major investor coming to Albania, just as we heard at the beginning of 2024 about Kushner when the law was postponed,’ says Irena Beqiraj, an expert in economics and finance.
‘The inability to analyze and create laws that could benefit the economy as a whole has turned the majority into a workshop where laws are made to order!’ she concludes.
The government has promised to create a new legal framework for investments. However, instead of focusing on drafting and approving this framework, the majority has spent eight years extending the life of the controversial law, which was initially designed as temporary.
