TIRANA, Dec. 14 – Lefter Koka, Albania’s former minister of environment, has been arrested by special corruption and organized crimes prosecutors (SPAK) on charges of abuse of office and corruption, dealing with the procedures, contracts and construction of the urban waste incinerator in Elbasan.
Koka received about 3 million euros in bribes by two companies in return for giving them the concession contracts, prosecutors indicate in the charges..
SPAK issued a statement noting that after receiving official reports by two opposition parties, the Democratic Party (DP) and the Socialist Movement for Integration (SMI), a year ago, it started an investigation on the procedure for the Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract for the construction and administration of the Elbasan incinerator.
The investigation “proved that the procedures for the contract with Albtek Energy were incomplete, and that, contrary to the law on concessions, a negotiation method was followed without a prior public notice,” SPAK said in statements.
That resulted in damages to the state’s interests and the private company receiving unfair benefits, the SPAK statement added.
Prosecutors say Albtek Energy, and another company which performed the construction works, Integrated Technology Services, issued bloated invoices for works not actually done, amounting to nearly 3 million euros, which are suspected to have been channelled to Koka as a bribe, after he illegally favored the two companies in the PPP contract procedures.
The administrators of the two companies set up a fictitious payment scheme to hide the illegal origin of the money during their transfers.
Prosecutors added that former Minister Koka had requested and received from the two companies indirect monetary benefits, creating with some other companies fictitious schemes for unfinished works, to cover his corruption.
Koka entered politics in the 2000s as mayor of Durrës under the banner of the Socialist Party. He then became an MP of the rival SMI, when that party split from the Socialist Party. He was a SMI minister in Edi Rama’s government from 2013 to 2017.
He was later re-elected MP under the banner of the SMI, while in the last general elections of April 25, 2021, he won a seat in Durrës as a candidate of the Socialist Party. Shortly after the victory he abruptly resigned without any public explanation.
SPAK has issued two other arrest warrants, for the owners of the two companies involved, Klodian Zoto and Stela Gugalla, both declared wanted while at large, while their shares in the companies they manage have been seized.
Zoto is the owner of Integrated Technology Services, a company that owns 70 percent of the shares of another major incinerator in Fier.
Gugalla is the partner of Mirel Mertiri, an entrepreneur who, according to media reports, is suspected of being behind two other incinerators in Fier and Tirana.
All concessions involving trash incinerators have come under scrutiny over alleged corruption. Fier and Elbasan have now been seized by the state as part of the charges filed on Tuesday.
A major incinerator in Tirana is now also under scrutiny, with investigative journalists noting that its owners are ultimately unknown as they hide behind an offshore company.
Koka also owns some large businesses, including the country’s largest producer of alcoholic beverages, and prosecutors have placed all his businesses under state administration through seizures until his trial is finished.
Albania’s opposition has made public accusations about the incinerators for years, also accusing former Energy Minister Damian Gjiknuri, as well as current Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj of links to Mertiri, the partner of the woman now wanted by police. At the time of the Elbasan concession, Ahmetaj was minister of finance.
DP leader Lulzim Basha told the media that time and investigations are showing the opposition was correct in denouncing the affair.
The Socialists have consistently denied allegations of abuse related to the incinerators. Prime Minister Rama and his ministers defended the projects and frequently visited their construction sites, praising the impact they have brought to the treatment of urban waste in Albania.
However, suspicions of breaches of procedure have persisted.
In addition to investigations by the SPAK, the country’s parliament has set up a special investigative commission at the opposition’s request, which is reviewing the procedures followed by the executive bodies for the construction and administration of urban waste treatment plants in Tirana, Elbasan and Fier, the total value of which goes to more than 400 million euros.
According to the opposition, three incinerator contracts in 2014 and 2017 were awarded to newly created companies, which were set up just days and weeks before the documents were signed.
That has raised suspicions that behind the violation of procedures with the drafting and signing of these three contracts there are hidden illegal benefits of significant amounts.
