EU suspends funds for Albanian agriculture, corruption is at very high levels

 Frida Krifca, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Albania, in a public release, source: Xhemali Moku published firstly in Reporter.al

 Asked by BIRN, the office of the European Delegation in Tirana confirmed the news that funds for the agricultural assistance program, IPARD II, have been suspended as a precautionary measure following an investigation into corruption allegations during the implementation by the Ministry of Agriculture. The Albanian government refused to respond to BIRN's request for comments.

The European Commission decided to suspend the most significant aid program for Albania, worth tens of millions of euros, due to suspicions of corruption. When asked by BIRN, the office of the European Union in Tirana officially confirmed the news previously published by Oligarkia.al that the funds have been cut off.

"The European Commission has informed the Albanian government that it has taken precautionary measures based on initial information provided by the European Anti-Fraud Office [OLAF], following an investigation into corruption allegations related to the implementation of the IPARD II program," the EU's response to BIRN states.

"As a preventive measure to protect the financial interests of the European Union, the European Commission has temporarily suspended reimbursements to the Albanian authorities for expenses incurred under the IPARD II program," the written response further states.

The IPARD program provides tens of millions of euros in agricultural aid to Albania and other candidate member countries. IPARD II, which was implemented between 2014 and 2020, granted Albania over 71 million euros, while the IPARD III program was expected to increase the aid to 146 million euros.

However, corruption seems to have also affected this opportunity for Albania as the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has opened investigations into corruption in the allocation of grants for agriculture, leading to the decision to suspend the funds. The investigation by OLAF is still ongoing, and its conclusion is unknown, but the suspicions of abuses appear to be so serious that the European Commission has taken the precautionary measure of suspending disbursements.

"The European Commission cannot comment on any possible findings of OLAF on the implementation of the IPARD II program (2014-2020) in Albania. OLAF's investigation continues. When OLAF submits the final report, the European Commission will inform the Albanian authorities and, based on the findings of the report, will take any further measures necessary to protect the financial interests of the European Union," the EU's response reads.

BIRN asked Prime Minister Edi Rama's Media and Information Agency if they have any comments on this decision. A spokeswoman declined to comment.