The government earned around 17 million euros last year from selling identification documents to Albanian citizens. Data from the balance sheet of the public company Identitek shows that the production and sale of passports remains one of the most profitable businesses in the country, with profit rates similar to usury or cocaine trafficking.
According to the balance sheet, last year the Identitek company collected a total of 3.68 billion lek or about 38 million euros from the sale of identification documents, while the profit before taxes resulted in 17 million euros (1 euro = 97 lek). This implies a profit rate of about 45 percent on turnover.
Usury profit rate for Identitek
The production and distribution of identification documents has been one of the most profitable concessions in Albania. The company Aleat was contracted by the Albanian government for the exclusive concession in 2008, initially for a period of 5 years. The concession agreement was accompanied by a significant increase in the prices of passports and identity cards for citizens.
At the time, the government justified the concession as a necessary measure to meet the conditions for visa liberalization and increase national security. But in 2013, the government extended the concession for another 10 years without competition, similar to the concessions for Rinas Airport and the Bulqiza chrome mine.
For 15 years in a row, Aleat has been one of the most profitable companies in Albania, recording profit margins that have ranged from 25 to 50 percent of turnover.
Historical data shows that for the entire 15-year period, Aleat collected 52.5 billion lek or 540 million euros from the sale of passports and identity cards, and recorded a net profit of over 150 million euros.
The government's golden monopoly
The 15-year concession of identification documents finally ended and the government nationalized the service, creating the state-owned company Identitek for this purpose.
"Politically, we have the will to review the price in order to reduce it," emphasized former Interior Minister Blendi Çuçi when announcing the nationalization of the service. But a few months later, the government changed its position 180 degrees and did not reduce the tariffs, leaving those that the concessionaire company had. Now the staggering profits of this service are going to the government.
Identification document fees
Keeping prices unchanged is clearly an unfair decision, because the concession of this service for the past 15 years was justified by the fact that the private sector would carry out the investments and provide the infrastructure at no cost to the government. But despite this, the government did not lower prices.
Albania is one of the countries with the highest prices for identification documents. In addition to the unjustly high costs imposed on citizens, this issue also has political implications, where in elections many citizens are not allowed to vote because they cannot afford to pay the high prices for identification documents. The most recent case was that of the local elections in Himara, where thousands of citizens were not allowed to vote because their identification documents had expired.
Editorial
