Open Data Albania has ranked Members of the Parliament based on their declared income during 2016. MPs are subject to public declaration, as well as control of assets and of potential conflict of interest. They must submit, at the beginning of each year, a Statement of income, reporting the increase or decrease of their wealth in the past twelve months. The declaration should be completed within the first quarter of the following year, to leave room for deposition and verification by ILKDPKI inspectors.
The categorization is being carried out based on the source of income and ranking based on the overall income they generated in 2016. Detailed statements are in the section Money and Power, in the Spending Data Albania platform. Transparency and public scrutiny, through the publication in well-structured format, is performed as part of the activities of the Pre-Government and Policy (MGP) Project.
In the list of MPs, examined by ODA, Armando Prenga, who handed over the mandate of MP in February 2017 and the late MP Gjovalin Kadeli, are missing.
The ranking is based on a few income categories, such as: income from the engagement as Member of Parliament and other professional engagement; income from fees; income from board or commission positioning; income from bank interest on deposits, bonds, treasury bills, financial securities and other forms of financial activities; rental income; income from businesses and economic enterprises; other family income; gifts or financial input to settle the cause of the contract and not only, from third parties.
According to statements regarding income deriving from work and professional commitment, the highest paid MP, leading the 2015 and 2016 list, is Anastas Angjeli, former Minister of Finance, whose salary as an MP amounts to two points five million lek, plus two points nine million lek income from teaching in non-public universities. He is followed the list by Liljana Elmasi and Eleina Qirici, two women MPs also engaged part-time in public universities. In the self-declaration statement on salary income, it is evident that MP’s file different salary figures for the same position. They coincide with the obligation to declare as salary of bonuses and additions to the deputy’s salary, which are not subject to the same tax regime as salary.
A hundred and fifteen deputies declared income in the form of salaries and bonuses only for their function as Member of Parliament. While the rest, declared income from salaries and bonuses in other positions as well, mainly at university institutions.
Only ten Members of the Albanian Parliament declared separately that had they received bonuses in 2016, with the majority opting to declare them as part of their salaries. This is a wrong categorization, as the tax rate on personal income for salaries and bonuses differs. The highest value of income from bonuses was declared by Bujar Kllogjri.
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
There are 9 MPs that declared income from their position as Advisor or Board Member in 2016. The highest value was divulged once again by Anastas Angjeli, for his role as member of the Academy of Science at the amount of five hundred and ten lek.
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
Earnings deriving from bank deposits, securities and bonds are another form of income. There are thirty-two MPs declaring income from such sources in 2016. The MP heading this category is, Ben Blushi, same as last year, who owns bonds in the amount of one million nine hundred and eighty seven thousand nine hundred and forty three lek. It is 23% less then he owned last year, as in August 2016 he sold bonds worth twenty nine milion lek. He is followed by Mr. Kozma Dashi dhe Mr. Genc Ruli, who both own property titles in the form of investment funds. Instead, lending securities owned by spouses and family members are not included, as they are considered as a separate category.
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
Thirty-eight members of the Assembly receive rental income. The one profiting the most this year is Astrit Veliaj with around thirty one million lek income. Artan Gaci dhe Pirro Kapurani gained a large amount of rental income as well. Again, rental income from spouses and family members are not included and are filed in a separate category.
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
In the business and enterprises category, MP Tom Doshi tops the earning list with a hundred and thirty four millions lek of income, an amount 17% higher than last year. MP Doshi also declared an increase in his assets by way of transferring property rights, which are not specified as income from business, but display, nonetheless, elements of entrepreneurship. This income addition. This change in assets was listed under the “Other” category, without an assessment of how much was the annual income generated by said property transfer. Eduard Selami declared income at the amount of forty eight thousand and five hundred US dollar from a US based business and Bujar Derveni declared earnings of thre millions lek in the form of dividends, from shares he owns in two companies. Other MPs have offered statements of income from businesses, interest rates and dividends, but they are categorized as income from spouses and family members.
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
Three MPs have profited assets or financial income through inheritance. Edmond Spaho inherited from his father a 64 m2 apartment, forty paintings and a bank deposit worth four hundred forty three thousand and two hundred lek.
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
Publication and Copyright royalties are another source of income. Ben Blushi holds the top spot in this category, having earned from UET three millions lek of book royalties. Unlike the previous year, the Prime minister, at the same time a Member of the Parliament, comes second with one million two hundred and eighty six lek in royalties. Dashamir Shehi, Anastas Angjeli and Mimoza Hafizi are listed in this category as well.
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
The list ranking MPs by the income owned by family members, spouses or cohabitant is headed by Mr.Anastas Angjeli by way of his wife, Mrs. Greta Angjeli who, during 2016, secured income from her employment in the AAEF (Albanian American Enterprise Fund) in the amount of one hundred and thirty and four thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight dollars. The Angjelis are closely followed by the Ruci, Berisha and Tafaj families.
As for salaries earned by spouses or cohabitants, Mrs. Angjeli is followed by Mrs. Xhovana Doshi, MP Tom Doshi’s spose and then, Mrs. Greta Mima, Florion Mima’s spose, as well as Mrs. Lorenza Pietra Benati, whose married to MP Parid Cara. Mrs. Mucmata and Gjiknuri come before Linda Rama, whose salary places her Prime minister husband on the seventh spot on the list.
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
There are also a set of actions such as selling assets of companies under ownership, transfer of ownership rights, property revaluation, legalizations, damages, property exchanges that, although create asset change or addition, it is not clear when they constitute a conversion of property from one form to another and when they constitute additional assets with taxable effects. For this reason, they have been placed in the “Other” category where the MPs Doshi,Veliaj, Ylli, Tavo, Kapurani, Bitri, Kryemadhi stand out. Included in this category are also property donations, where a description of the property is provided with no specifics on their registration or market value. These revenues are mainly inflows from asset sales or other contractual liabilities, for which in most cases we cannot identify the monetary value generated or earned, as opposed to simply converting or disposing of previous assets. Twenty-five MPs generated revenue (account entry) of this category. Here we can mention a contract for the sale of property worth six hundred thousand euros, as stated by Shkëlzen Berisha, the eldest son of the former Prime Minister Berisha. This is a contract of property conversion from real estate to monetary asset.
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
Two MPs from the Socialist Party, namely Namik Dokle nnd Asllan Dogjani, gained income from a Court Verdict, after suing the Albanian Assembly for cutting their salaries, while they were still exercising their function as MPs in the previous legislature (before 2013). Other socialist MPs have benefitted from the same decision, declaring their salaries in a batch.
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
In the end, calculating the total income of each MP, which includes all categories of enterprises, income or family income filed in the statements, the highest earning list is lead by Mr. Tom Doshi, followed by Mr. Anastas Angjeli and Mr. Astrit. Veliaj.
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
Source: Money and Power section in the Spending data Albania
Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
In calculating the income or revenues declared for 2016, foreign currency statements were converted in Albanian lek, using to the average annual exchange rate for 2016 by the Bank of Albania. Each category and ranking includes only the assets added during 2016 and not with the totality of the assets declared by MPs. The latter are detailed in the Money and Power section of Spending Data Albania, where you can find also annual and initial asset statements for MPs and other senior officials. The ranking charts for all MPs can be downloaded in the Excel version.
This article does not contain information about the income the MPs generated, directly and indirectly, by owning shares or quotas in business companies, having established a passive status, in order to avoid conflict of interest. The status is established by temporarily transferring representation rights to other trustees. We have no statement and information on expected income, earnings or capital increase of the passive shareholder or partner.
Examining the 2016 statements, we can conclude that an MP earns, on average, over seven point forty-eight million ALL per year or over six hundred and twenty three thousand four hundred and thirty-nine ALL per month, an average that is three times higher than their salary. You can also fund the 2015 ranking published in the Open Data Albania platform.
Download excel:Deputies, declared income based on their source, Ranking, 2016Comments and Analysis: Open Data Albania
Translated by: Rezarta Cushaj
