Over the past three years, a consistent pattern of flagged tenders has emerged, with businesses associated with or owned by politically exposed persons (PEPs) or individuals with conflicts of interest securing awarding contracts 🚩
These arguments have been officially documented in the 2023 Annual Report of the Special Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime Prosecution Office (SPAK), which highlighted the misuse of procurement procedures at both the central and local government levels[i]. Criminal proceedings have been initiated within municipalities and state agencies concerning this issue. 🚩
However, the concentration of tenders awarded to businesses owned by politically exposed individuals remains alarmingly high. These tenders are often used as a source of funding for election campaigns or electoral misconduct.
The media has documented such cases in Tirana[ii], Berat, Kolonja and Fier[iii], as recently as April 2025. 🚩🚩🚩🚩
AIS (local NGO), through the Open Procurement Albania[iv] program, has found that 45% of tenders in period January till April 2025 were flagged as red-flag tenders (no competition), compared to total tenders. 🚩🚩🚩🚩
Furthermore, according to the annual report from the Public Procurement Agency, in 2024 a year leading up to the election period, the total value of tenders announced reached 14% of GDP. This is the first time (year) this fund has reached such a high level (with 7-9% being the average) indicates a significant injection of public funds just before the election campaigns.
A similar trend was also observed in 2020, prior to the 2021 elections.
This document presents a series of concerns related to the integrity of the electoral process and the right to vote in the context of May 11th, 2025, Parliamentary Elections, as identified by AIS.
The observations stem from AIS’s long-term monitoring of public expenditures and procurement through our three watchdog and data disclosing platforms: Open Procurement Albania; Open Spending Albania; Open Corporates Albania
During the 2017 elections, AIS implemented the ICT for Fair Elections project, which tracked and mapped electoral violations based on citizen reports. Unfortunately, this initiative is not active for the 2025 elections due to a lack of funding (Raise Voice Albania – Make Elections Count Za’Lart 2017).
This report also draws on journalistic investigations and media content, particularly from journalists specializing in anti-corruption issues. AIS maintains strong partnerships with investigative journalists, supporting and empowering them through access to well-structured and Open DataBases.
#ElectoralSpendingAlbania
#SpendingDataAlbania
#OpenProcurementAlbania
#OpenCorporatesAlbania
#ElectionAlbania2025
#AssetDeclaration
[i] see p. 34: SPAK Report: https://spak.gov.al/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Raporti-2023.pdf
[ii] Zgjedhjet janë “flori” për Qefaliajt, në një muaj, 1.8 mln euro tendera nga Bashkia Tiranë
[iii] PLUG zbardh skemën ‘5K’, të ish-kryebashkiak – Syri | Lajmi i fundit