The chairman of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, during the round table with electricity and hydrocarbon experts, emphasized that 300 thousand tons of oil are smuggled into the country.
According to him, one trawler owner has 3 such trawlers that he smuggles oil into the country and unloads them without any worries.
"The cost of electricity production in Albania is 0.9 lek. It sells to citizens for 95 lek, 98 times more. It sells to business for 200 or so lek. I am stopping at these to tell you citizens that the potential for profound changes and immediate, it is complete and possible. And we promise this, because we are in battle with the government. They rightly ask, that you are in battle, but if this government leaves, what do you offer.
Yesterday I declared that first we will halve the fiscal base of oil. We will subsidize 100% travel tickets, urban and interurban. We are not inventing it, others have done it. Can we afford to do this? Completely. We are the country that produces 1 million tons of oil. Today, with 300,000 vehicles more than in 2012, oil consumption is less than in 2012. In this year, ARMO produced about 150,000 tons of D-double, and 500,000 tons were imported. The consumption was 700 thousand tons.
The consumption of these vehicles that are today should be at least 800 thousand tons. There are 300 thousand tons that are smuggled, but how? Government. Oil is not cocaine to put in banana crates. The chain is known. There are trawler owners who smuggle oil. Only one has 3 such that he smuggles oil that he unloads freely and it is said that he periodically meets the prime minister. There can be no oil smuggling without a government cover.
If we were to fight this smuggling, they would halve the fiscal burden. No one in the world taxes oil, 1.1 euros".