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"Country with problems", DASH publishes report on Business Climate in Albania: Money laundering, corruption in the judiciary and government

2025-09-27 22:13:28Biznes SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
US Department of State

The US Department of State has published today the report on the Business Climate in Albania for 2025.

The report emphasizes that the Albanian administration continues to face significant challenges, while there are ongoing concerns from the United States of America.

According to this report, Albania has great potential to attract foreign investment, including energy, tourism, healthcare, agriculture, oil and mining, as well as ICT.

However, the report highlights a significant problem: high informality in the business sector, which is significantly harming the country's competitiveness and economic development.

"Despite the stability and continuous growth that the Albanian economy has shown in recent years, its economic development remains fragile due to widespread corruption, organized crime, distorted competition, labor shortages due to emigration, low productivity, and a large informal sector," the report states.

In the last decade, Albania has attracted high levels of foreign direct investment. What Albania lacks, according to the report, is a mechanism for screening these investments.

But who are the top foreign investors? According to the report, the list is topped by the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, Italy, Turkey and Austria.

Meanwhile, foreign investments from the United States account for a small but growing share.

"Difficult place to do business"

Albania's score on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index improved from 37 to 42 out of 100 in 2024. However, foreign investors continue to perceive Albania as a difficult place to do business. They cite ongoing challenges for investment and doing business in Albania due to:

-corruption in the public sector, judiciary and public procurement

-unfair and distorted competition

-a large informal economy

-money laundering

-frequent changes in fiscal legislation

-property rights

-poor implementation of contracts.

The business community reports to DASH that the large flow of illicit income from drug trafficking, smuggling, tax evasion, and corruption distorts competition in the market. Investors report that they can be targets of extortion by public administration, the media, and criminal groups.

Ownership problems

Ownership identification is a long-standing problem in Albania that makes it difficult to return expropriated property, the State Department writes in the report.

“The restitution and compensation process began in 1993, but has been slow and marred by corruption. Many American citizens of Albanian origin have been involved in long-term disputes over property restitution. Court cases continue for years without a final decision, leading many to refer their cases to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France. A significant number of applications are pending before the ECHR. Even after the Strasbourg ruling, implementation remains slow,” the report examines, thus highlighting the legal problems on this issue in our country.

Ongoing corruption

According to the report, Albania has a sound legal framework to combat corruption and prevent conflicts of interest of public officials and politicians, including their family members. However, corruption continues to undermine the rule of law, jeopardize economic development, and prevent Albania from reaching its full potential. Foreign investors cite corruption and related issues as some of the biggest problems hindering the business environment in Albania, including:

-corruption in the judiciary, government, public procurement and media

-lack of transparency

-lack of competition

-a large informal economy

-poor implementation of contracts.

Despite this, Albania has made progress in the field of asset confiscation, but it is necessary to continue the fight against corruption and organized crime.

Further progress by these specialized anti-corruption structures and a continued record of convictions for high-level corruption would encourage foreign and domestic investment and enable Albania to compete more successfully in the global economy, the report states.


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