A draft law proposed by the Ministry of Environment gives the minister the right to spend billions of lek without tenders. The draft, which has been put out for public consultation, envisages the establishment of a national environmental fund, which will finance environmentally friendly private projects.
"The National Environmental Fund is established in the form of a public financial fund, which supports the national environmental protection policy. The sources of financing of the Fund are the state budget, domestic or foreign financing and secondary income," the draft law states.
But in the same article, an insidious clause with a single sentence has been inserted, which practically turns the National Environmental Fund into an extra-budgetary pocket.
"This fund is not subject to public procurement legislation," the law states.
This means that the fund will be spent without any competition, but at the discretion of the minister. We are talking about billions of lek.
"The ministry responsible for the environment finances from the national fund approved annually projects submitted by natural or legal persons, domestic or foreign, whose object of activity is the field of the environment. For the implementation of projects and activities in the field of the environment, the financing scheme covers up to 100% of the approved project costs," the draft law states.
The person who will approve private projects, which are financed up to 100 percent, is the minister himself.
"The approval of projects and activities in the field of the environment is carried out by the minister responsible for the environment, upon the proposal of the collegium, composed of 5 high- and middle-level public administration officials, heads of responsible structures covering the field of the environment in the ministry responsible for the environment, who are determined by order of the minister responsible for the environment," the draft law specifies.
So the Minister of Environment will approve the projects he will finance and the entire National Environmental Fund will be spent outside the rules established by the public procurement law. This means that Sofjan Japuaj will distribute and spend money without any legal restrictions to businesses of his own choosing, a giant path of abuse and a scandalous violation of budgetary discipline, which protects the interests of taxpayers.
Editorial
