The government passed a decision to pay to Kurum Company 3.4 billion ALL of obligations accumulated with unpaid VAT.
The decision was taken after the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Finances signed an agreement with the Kurum Company, which is connected to the privatization of four hydropower plants.
Kurum was announced as the winning company of the tender, offering 109 million EUR for four HPPs.
But Kurum imposed the payment of the due VAT returns as a condition.
The deadline given by Kurum expired yesterday, but the negotiations have been covered by mystery and the government did not publish any official announcement.
Sources from the Ministry of Finances declared that until one day ago Kurum has paid only part of the payment. They said that they are waiting for the rest of the money before paying the VAT returns.
In these conditions, the sale of the four HPPs that belonged to the Albanian Energy Corporation, built many years ago, has turned into an agreement between people who owe each other, outside the public’s eyes and with very high suspicions, rather than being a normal privatization process.
