The bill of international courts in the state budget is increasing year after year as a result of the mistakes made by the Albanian government in contractual financial relations with companies and individuals.

The Ministry of Finance reported that by the end of June 2023, the total bill to be paid from the budget in June 2023 reached 214.4 million euros, of which 21.7 million euros are decisions of the European Court for Human Rights and mainly in favor of former land owners, and another 192.7 million euros result from decisions of the International Court of Arbitration involving investors who had contracts with the government.

Out of the total of 192.7 million euros for the Arbitration decisions, the one for the Becchetti case is the highest.

The Albanian government has acknowledged the court’s ruling in favor of Becchetti in the case “Hydro and Others v. Albania” with a value of 108 million euros, but the Finance Ministry has reported it as an obligation without invoicing it. On the other hand, the company has been applying the instrument of seizure on the accounts of the Albanian government abroad for years. In addition to the obligation, there are 5.1 million euros in legal costs for this arbitration.

In total, only the legal costs for the defense of various cases in arbitration have reached around 26 million euros.

The Ministry of Finance emphasized that the Arbitration decisions are related to final decisions for the resolution of conflicts in two or multiparty disputes, at the expense of the Albanian state. Considering the significant financial effects that usually accompany these decisions, they are assessed as a considerable risk to the state budget.