Economic damage in universities in the years 2010-2012

Public universities in our country are financed from the state budget and its incomes, due to which they are subject to controls by the Supreme State for the use of these funds. Open Data Albania has examined the economic damage caused to the State Budget from the audited universities during 2010-2012.

Since 2010, the SSA has audited 6 universities in total, while in 2009 there is no such audited. Total economic damage caused by them was about 94.8 million, in five main sectors: taxes, operating expenses, wages, bonuses and procurements.

^{Source: Supreme State Control
Processing and comments: ODA}

Much of the damage was caused in the wages sector. For three years the damage is estimated to be about 50 million or 53% of total damage, caused mainly by “Eqrem Çabej” with 31.5 million and the University “Ismail Qemali” with 17 million. In the case of the university “Eqrem Çabej” the damage was caused by unfair benefits given to the academic staff for extra hours of work payments (18.8 million) and other payments for scientific titles not yet received. Thus, according to the SSA , 39 lecturers from 2009-2012 were paid with higher wages, without being accorded the scientific titles yet, causing damage of around 12.38 million. For both of these figures, the SSA has recommended immediate redemption.

The second sector with the highest damage is taxation, with 34 million, or 35.84% of the total damage, caused almost all of the University “Ismail Qemali”. 31.39 million All was the damage caused from this university, while the rest belongs to the Agricultural University of Tirana with 2,615 million. Third sector with the highest damage appears to be the procurements. For the years 2010-2013 it marked 7.55 million All damage, 55.8% of which belongs to the University of Tirana with 4.4 million, followed by the University of Agriculture with 2.32 million.

At university level, the total damage caused by each of them, is presented in the following graph:

^{Source: Supreme State Control
Processing and comments: ODA}

In the first place, as the university with the highest economic damage, is the University of Vlora with about 48.7 million or 51% of total damage identified. After it comes the University of Gjirokastra, with 33.4 million, while other universities appear with a more modest economic damage compared to the above ones, mentioning also the Polytechnic University, which does not appear in any economic damage accrued during the audit in 2011.

However, given the fact that in the country there are currently operating 15 institutions of public higher education, with many faculties and subsidiaries, which manage a great deal of revenues and funding from the state budget, it would be of high public interest the increase transparency of their expenses and still further, a full audit of the use of funds by the SSA.

1. ^{The data on economic damage by sector were obtained from the SSA Annual Report for the respective years 2009 – 2010 http://www.klsh.org.al/previeëdoc.php?file_id=620}
2. ^{The data on economic damage by sector were obtained from the SSA Annual Report for the respective years 2009 – 2010}