The European Commission confirmed it has suspended funds for Albanian agriculture on suspicions of corruption.
A European Commission spokesperson told Euronews Albania that while they “cannot comment on the ongoing investigation of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) on the implementation of the IPARD II program (2014-2020) in Albania, the European Commission has taken precautionary measures”.
“At this stage, the European Commission has taken precautionary measures based on the preliminary information provided by OLAF. In particular, as a preventive measure to protect the financial interests of the European Union, the European Commission has provisionally interrupted the reimbursements to the Albanian authorities for expenditure incurred under the IPARD II program,” the European Commission spokesperson told Euronews Albania.
“When OLAF submits the final report, the European Commission will inform the Albanian authorities accordingly and, based on the findings of the report, will take any further measures needed to protect the financial interests of the European Union,” the spokesperson further added.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the IPARD program has not been interrupted.
“The Albanian authorities have been informed about the suspension of the current reimbursement bill by DG AGRI for a portion of the next expenses. This is purely an administrative process that allows the re-verification of control systems by accredited structures, which will take the necessary measures to ensure the normal continuation of reimbursement from the EU. These are standard procedures of the European Union when there is a need to verify suspected expenses related to activities not in line with the established rules,” the Ministry argues.
The institution further clarifies that “this is an everyday job, whereby all accredited institutions work together to respect EU rules and improve various aspects to serve the success of the program”.
“It is crucial that a program for the economic development of rural Albania does not become a subject of political consumption,” the Ministry asks.
The Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance IPA includes support for IPA rural development programs – IPARD – and aims to help EU Candidate countries develop their agriculture.
The IPARD II program has a total fund of 94 million euros allocated for the years from 2014 to 2020.
The financing, amounting to 71 million euros from the EU and 23 million euros from the Albanian government, has been provided for investments in physical assets on farms, investments in physical assets for the processing and marketing of agricultural and fishery products, farm diversification, business development, and technical assistance in these sectors.
The current IPARD III program has earmarked some 112 million euros for Albania out of a total budget of almost 1 billion euros for the five EU candidate countries.
The implementation of the program is the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Agency for Agriculture and Rural Development.
