The AEPC-NOA scandal/ A corrupt affair, from Benet Beci to the institutions involved

15 Tetor 2021, 13:11, English CNA

For several days, CNA.al has denounced through official and exclusive documents a scandal related to an abusive contract signed by the Albanian Electric Power Corporation, AEPC, has connected with the private company, NOA Energy, for the exchange of electricity.

This is an abusive contract, as no energy exchange schedules have been set. According to this contract, AEPC gives energy to the private company NOA Energy when the demand for energy is very high but also when the price of energy is many times higher, while this private company returns this energy to AEPC after midnight, when the demand for energy is low and the price many times even lower.

From this contract the private company, NOA Energy earns thousands of euros, while AEPC gets only a few crumbs. The first request of NOA was made on March 4, 2021, while the head of AEPC Beci resigned a day later, on March 5, 2021. But on the date NOA filed the second request, setting some conditions.

Meanwhile, through official documents, CNA.al has shown how the Competition Authority was involved in this scandal. The agreement is detailed and officially presented on March 8th. So 3 days after the resignation of the director of that time, Benet Beci, who remained in office.

On the same day, the AEPC administrator prepares the official documents, and on March 9 sends the request to the Energy Regulatory Authority and the Competition Authority. Although the Competition Authority had previously annulled such decisions, ie from 2019 onward many other private companies were not given this opportunity, at a high speed for only 48 hours, the documents are reviewed and a decision was made.

The decision is dated March 12, 2021, and clearly states the Authority has recommended AEPC that during the interest procedures to guarantee the fulfillment of the obligation for public service, to respect the principles of profitability, and obliges AEPC as the dominant operator for each contract which decides special exclusive rights, to request a preliminary evaluation by the Competition Commission, etc.

So, the Competition Authority has responded to AEPC within 48 hours, while usually state institutions return responses to official documents for 1 month. In this case, the levers of the state have functioned perfectly and this naturally raises a question:? What ?oil of corruption? has moved the rusty bars of the Albanian state gear??.

It?s very clearly that the procedures have proceeded rapidly by order from above. The day before, CNA.al published two other documents, which confirm the scandal and add to the suspicions. This is exactly the answer that came from the Energy Regulatory Authority.

While the Competition Authority?s response came on March 12, the Energy Regulatory Authority it took a month to respond.

In the document provided by CNA.al, the response of the ERA dated on April 9, 2021. So, the response of this institution does not come three days later, but almost a month later. So it seems that the ERA was out of the scheme. Tomorrow CNA.al will publish the full contract, where the documents clearly show that an agreement has been drafted and signed in favor of a private company, and to the detriment of AEPC./CNA.al

Skandali KESH-NOA/ Një aferë korruptive, nga Benet Beci tek institucionet e përfshira