Helena Smith in Tirana
THE road to Albania’s economic integration=20 in Europe is potholed. The furore over=20 pyramid investment schemes has exposed the=20 fragility of free enterprise in a country=20 emerging from one of the world’s most=20 centralised political systems.
Their collapse highlights how criminality=20 has become a way of life. Five years into=20 democracy, Europe’s poorest country remains=20 chronically paralysed.
The drive from the Albanian capital,=20 Tirana, to Greece, its only European Union=20 neighbour, shows why the scams could have=20 such sway. In rural areas economic activity=20 stops with the roadside kiosk and petrol=20 station.=20
In Lushjne, which saw the first of the=20 protests over the schemes, the bars and=20 cafes are full because unemployment is so=20 high.
In Ballsh, the erstwhile home of oil=20 production, the refinery differs little=20 from the burnt-out cars.
A little further down the road towards the=20 southern town of Vlore the scene changes.=20 Lean women in white headscarves toil the=20 fields. Men in big, flashy Swiss-registered=20 cars shoot by. The women, you are told, are=20 growing hashish and the men in the big cars=20 are trading it. It is estimated that about=20 50% of the funds poured into the pyramids=20 came from abroad and from “dirty” money=20 reaped in the fields of the south.
The cultivation of hashish began four years=20 ago when Greeks and Italians allegedly=20 introduced the seed to Albanians. Growers=20 say that profits are assured from Europe’s=20 ever-expanding drug markets. Shipments are=20 taken in high-speed launches to Greece and=20 Italy where Albanians are known to have=20 mafia links.
Under pressure from the West, President=20 Sali Berisha and his virulently right-wing=20 Democratic Party recently passed tough=20 legislation to clamp down on the trade, but=20 corrupt and poorly-paid officials do little=20 to control it. Most are glad to have found=20 a new source of income now that violating=20 the embargo to rump Yugoslavia – an=20 activity that generated 10% of Albania’s=20 gross national product between 1992 and=20 1995 – has been forced to stop.=20
Drugs have transformed towns like Vlore,=20 where mass protests over the pyramids=20 erupted last week. There are fears that=20 Albania could become a Colombia in Europe.
Under its first democratic government,=20 Albania has looked good on paper. It is the=20 biggest recipient in Eastern Europe of EU=20 aid – around $336-million annually. It has=20 been hailed as perhaps the most vibrant=20 economy in transition. While growth has=20 been small in relative terms, the World=20 Bank and other financial institutions have=20 described Albania as one of their “best=20 pupils”.
But critics who point to the country’s=20 dilapidated infrastructure say the headway=20 is an illusion. The consensus is that most=20 aid funds have ended up in the hands of=20 crooked officials.
The collapse of the pyramid schemes has=20 been a mortal blow to Albania’s economic=20 reputation abroad. Close to $1,92-billion=20 is believed to have been tied up in the=20 funds.=20
The nation’s savings have been effectively=20 wiped out, and this will set back the=20 rickety economy by years. The hope is that,=20 with the collapse of the schemes, Albania=20 will have learnt that easy money is not=20 going to earn it the respect that will=20 bring it closer to Europe.