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Although state advocacy has been hermetic in making the lawsuits against Albania transparent, a State Supreme Audit has brought to light the number of lawsuits in arbitration and the damages that Albania risks paying.
According to the audit, there are currently 9 lawsuits against Albania currently for which is expected the final verdict. Two of them belong to companies linked to the Italian businessman Francesco Beccheti. In one of the cases, the International Court of Justice for the settlement of investment disputes has sentenced Albania to 110 million euros. But this decision is not yet final, as Albania has appealed the decision and the process is still ongoing.
But apart from two lawsuits by Italian companies, seven more lawsuits have been filed against Albania. The vast majority of these lawsuits have been filed against the Ministry of Energy and its subordinate agencies.
Two active arbitration lawsuits have been filed against AlbPetrol and the National Agency of Natural Resources. According to the companies' claims, the state should pay them over 110m euros in damages.
The Albanian Road Authority has been indicted in the International Court of Trade for 44m euros, while the Electricity Operator and the National Water and Wastewater Agency have been indicted with respectively 5m and 20m euros.
This is the first time a state document discloses the amount of damages sought through the Arbitration Court. This amount poses a great risk to the state budget and is the result of careless or corrupt decisions of the Albanian institutions.