The budget has been a cause of debate between the Special Anti-Corruption Structure (SPAK) and Albania’s National Bureau of Investigation.
The NBI director, Aida Hajnaj demanded a separate budget for the Bureau, while the head of SPAK, Arben Kraja, seeks for the budget to be determined according to the administration and SPAK.
SPAK 2021 budget is estimated at 500 million Albanian Lek (nearly €4 million), but during the meeting at the Committee on Legal Affairs, Hajnaj demanded that NBI have “a separate voice” in the budget as stipulated by the law.
“My request is for BNI to have a separate budget program within SPAK’s budget, hence two budgetary programs, one for the Special Prosecution and another for the Investigation Bureau. At the moment, the Bureau has no voice in the draft budget that you’ve received”, said the director of NBI.
But the chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs, Ulsi Manja, declared that SPAK and NBI are a single institution.
“The main entrance is through SPAK but when inside you may find various chambers, including here the NBI, the Special Prosecution and the judicial police service that functions as an entity”, Manja said.
Meanwhile, the head of SPAK that the main problem rests with the salaries of the NBI’s director, deputy director and the rest of the administration, which has not been prescribed by the law.
“There are some problems with the legal dispositions approved by the Assembly regarding NBI’s administration, because the law only stipulates that NBI will have an administration but it does not describe its status, the employees and their salary”, said Kraja.
The law on the “organization and functioning of the institutions to tackle corruption and organized crime” says that the NBI is comprised of a director, deputy director, investigators and administration employees.
On the other hand, Aida Hajnaj was appointed almost three months ago as the director of the National Bureau of Investigation but it is not known whether there exists a common order for the internal organization of the Bureau, which needs to be compiled in cooperation with the head of SPAK, Arben Kraja.
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