By DASHNOR KALOÇI

The third part

Memorie.al / / The island of Sazan, surrounded mainly by the rocky coast and clear blue water, as well as Zvërnec with the monastery on the small island, the beach with sand dunes, the forest with tall pine trees and the rich flora and fauna, which constitute a rare natural beauty, have for several months become the headlines of the media and politics, not only in Albania, but also in the international arena, (due to a giant tourist project with a complex of villas and resorts that is expected to be built by a foreign company from the USA), it seems that they were not only very well-known places for the picturesque tourist landscape they offered, but also for underground wealth! Such as gas and oil, otherwise considered "black gold". Among other things, this is also known from an archival document from 1989, which contains the minutes of the meeting of the secretariat of the Central Committee of the Albanian People's Party, led by Ramiz Alia, which was also attended by Lenka Çuko, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Central Committee, as well as Besnik Bekteshi, member of the Political Bureau and Minister of Industry, Mining and Energy.

As we will see from the document in question, during the meeting of the secretariat of the Central Committee of the Albanian People's Party (which were actually working coffees that Ramiz Alia held in the Party House with his subordinates, members of the Bureau and the secretaries of the Central Committee, which were recorded and transcribed), the Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy, Besnik Bekteshi, (considered one of the best prepared and most professional members of the Albanian government at that time), after giving a long summary of his visit to the Tropoja district, speaking mainly about the mineral wealth that that area had in the north-east of the country, he also stopped and spoke about all the problems of the sectors covered by the department he headed, such as oil, gas, chrome, copper, coal, iron, energy, etc., in all districts of the country, from north to south.

Likewise, during that conversation, Minister Bekteshi (who paradoxically had long been followed and surveilled by the State Security, as a possible agent of the Bulgarian Secret Services, where he had graduated), also focused at length on foreign companies such as West German, Romanian, etc., that had offered to explore for oil and gas in our country, mainly on the coast of Zvërnec and the island of Sazan, where the first wells had been opened to explore for oil that was thought to be in the depths of the sea.

In addition to Minister Bekteshi's presentation, during that working meeting, Ramiz Alia informed them (Bekteshi and Lenka Çukos, who surprisingly speaks with great competence also about oil and mining problems), regarding the meeting and conversations he had had in those days in Tirana with João Amazonas, (the chairman of the Marxist-Leninist party of Brazil), with whom he was an advisor on the problems of foreign companies that had offered to explore for oil and other mineral resources in our country. Regarding this, etc., we are familiar with the document in question that was recently extracted from the Central State Archive (the fund of the former Central Committee of the Albanian People's Party), which is published for the first time and in full (with the relevant facsimiles) by Memorie.al.

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE SECRETARIAT OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE ALP, DATED 6.VI.1989, CHAIRED BY RAMIZ ALIA, WHERE LENKA ÇUKO AND BENSIK BEKTESHI ALSO PARTICIPATED

MEETING

OF THE COMMENDED SECRETARIES OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE PARTY

On June 6, 1989

At this meeting, discussions were held on new discoveries in chrome; on the development of the conference of the Democratic Front of the Tropoja district; on communist militancy; on the better concretization of tasks and on the problem of the mechanism of work and remuneration; on the progress of work in the oil and other mineral sectors; on the issue of risky firms; on the versatility of the working method in the Ministry of Foreign Trade, on some problems that the development of our country itself raises and on various other problems.

The meeting is chaired by Comrade Ramiz Alia, First Secretary of the Party Central Committee. Participating in this meeting are Comrade Lenka Çuko, member of the Politburo and Secretary of the Central Committee; and Comrade Besnik Bekteshi, member of the Politburo and Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy.

Continues from the previous issue

COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: What about the German specialists who came to talk about Plant 12?

COMRADE BESNIK BEKTESHI: The first group was expected yesterday or today. From our side, comrades are also prepared to discuss concretely what needs to be done regarding the reconstruction of Plant 12 without interrupting production. We are waiting to see what results this meeting will bring. These days I have talked about these problems with comrade Adil.

The plans in these directions that we mentioned are great, but they also need to be supported. I don't have any great claims, but I think that both agriculture and chrome and oil need to be given greater support.

COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: I agree that chrome and oil should have greater support, but now I say that we should prioritize solving the problem of transportation, a sector in which there are many weaknesses.

COMRADE BESNIK BEKTESHI: Given the increasing demands for transportation and the inability to cope with the large volume of work, I believe that a plenum should be held on transportation problems.

COMRADE LENKA ÇUKO: A plenum was held on transportation problems, but it seems that it was general and there were no changes.

COMRADE BESNIK BEKTESHI: If we talk about plenums, comrade Lenka, they have been concrete, but time and development constantly bring up new problems. In the iron mine in Guri i Kuq, we have almost all the processes mechanized, which did not cause any problems either for the workforce or for the implementation of the plan. In our country there are other mines in which many work processes are mechanized.

COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: Even the coal mine in Memaliaj, as well as the chrome and copper mines, must be mechanized.

COMRADE LENKA ÇUKO: Investments made in these mines, compared to oil, provide faster and more effective returns. In fact, we also need oil, but these sectors will help the economy very quickly.

COMRADE BESNIK BEKTESHI: Indeed, chrome and copper come to the aid of the economy much faster and are more effective, but our economy has a great need for oil and these needs are increasing, so we cannot reduce investments in the oil sector.

SHOJA LENKA ÇUKO: Means of transportation are worn out and consume a lot of energy.

COMRADE RAMIZ ALIA: The means of transport need to be renewed, but now our possibilities are limited, so attention should be paid to their maintenance and more rational use. Even the more intensive use of minerals and the opening of new mines are difficult to do at the same time, because large investments are needed.

The relevant departments should look into the possibility of attracting foreign companies to this enterprise, for mechanization, for the expansion or opening of mines. I think this work will be profitable, as it gives us the opportunity for initial investment. Foreign companies are interested in getting involved in such an action. The West Germans and Romanians are interested in coal.

If we are going to engage, let's say, the Romanian in the contract, it should be made clear that the investment will be repaid with half of the additional production of the mine, which will undertake to do the mechanization. The repayment period can be set for a period of 4–5 years. So our economy benefits. The same should be done for both chrome and copper.

I have the impression that the relevant departments are not working seriously with foreign companies, so they also do not know who to turn to. When a problem arises about opening a mine or mechanizing it, I think that there is no need to turn to a foreign country, but to a company with which we can agree to repay the expenses with the mine's production. For the conclusion of the agreement, both parties will present requests according to their interests. Our representatives in these cases should start from economic convenience.

Agreements like these that we conclude with firms, we should not connect with specific countries, because no country is predisposed to accept our conditions. We have made it clear that we do not take loans, but we want to enter into a relationship in the form of technical-financial cooperation. Under these conditions, we are interested in entering into a relationship in specific forms. In a conversation I had with Amazon, I also spoke to him about the oil problems in our country.

Among other things, I told him that from the scientific data we have, it seems that the oil is heading towards the sea, which makes it difficult for us to search, discover and exploit it due to the limited possibilities we currently have. I further told him that we have been offered by several foreign companies to conduct offshore research, but in fact we have not reached any concrete conclusions.

He, without knowing anything about the talks we have had regarding cooperation with foreign firms for the exploitation of the sea, said that today in the world the form of risk agreements is quite widespread. "But this form," he continued, "has a catch: The firm incurs expenses, can even discover oil and when it comes to work, says it has found nothing. This capital is used to know and calculate the world's oil reserves, and, on this basis, OPEC and the major oil companies make pricing policy."

This, what Amazona said, could perhaps be the reason why these companies are interested in knowing: is the Adriatic oil basin such a large basin, as to affect world reserves? At first, the foreign company with which we can agree, our ministries can find oil and declare the opposite, while in a second stage, depending on its interests, it proposes to drill again, but in this case it is convinced that... there are oil reserves there and it comes out victorious.

This is exactly what the Soviets did in our country. They hid their discoveries by saying that our subsoil is not an oil-bearing layer, but how true their conclusions were was proven by our specialists, who drilled in these areas and found oil. The Soviets did not follow this policy only for oil, but for all minerals.

We continued our conversation with Amazon about the development of agriculture. I told him about the new tractors we bought from the Federal Republic of Germany, also showing him the form of delayed payment. Amazon, without knowing the details of the discussions that have taken place on this issue, said that this form of trade is also quite widespread in the world today and that it has nothing in common with credit.

World economic development itself makes it necessary, he concluded, to use such forms of payment. I discussed these issues with Amazon to show him that nothing is done spontaneously here, but problems are discussed, opinions are exchanged, and then we reach conclusions together.

The problems of building socialism are not framed, they require discussion. The path we follow is an uncharted path that requires maturity and common thinking, because otherwise, unintentionally, we may fall into contradiction with the principles. These are key economic problems that socialist development brings out, but which have a political character and as such, they give rise to the need to clarify each one.

There may be cadres who, without knowing the essence, consider the arrival of a foreign firm in our country to open or mechanize a mine as the creation of a joint venture. A joint venture essentially presupposes a pooling of capital.

Based on the regulation for its creation, both parties determine: the initial capital they will invest; the volume of investments they will make; the workforce each will maintain; the technology they will use; the selling price of the products and the lifespan of the enterprise itself; and, finally, which of the co-owners will inherit this enterprise after the term specified in the contract has passed.

Foreign trade is going well this year, because transactions are giving way, but we should not be satisfied with that, since even those are left in the lurch. Also, price conjunctures are changing. Therefore, importance should be given to domestic production, whether agricultural, livestock, or industrial.

Then, from a strategic point of view, we must give importance to creating conditions for the development of productive forces; only in this way can we ensure the export of chrome, copper, coal, electricity, processed agricultural and livestock products, etc. Based on this strategic goal, Foreign Trade must also strive to reduce the export of raw materials to a minimum and increase processed products, because this also involves the living labor of people.

The increase in the prices of the products we export is in our favor, but this does not mean that we should rely only on this. In recent years, the right thing was done to change the export structure. This makes it possible for our country not to find itself in difficult situations. Years ago, electricity and oil were the priority in exports, followed by chromium, iron, copper and agricultural products. However, the expansion of the range of exports, the decision to change the priorities of products, in a way, facilitated the economy. We stopped exporting electricity altogether, as our own economy needed it, etc.

The development of the economy is done dialectically. The cadres and specialists who deal with trade must be skilled and skillful. Albanian cognac, for example, is preferred and famous in the world, but now, due to the lack of molasses, production has dropped significantly. Wouldn't it be more fair to buy molasses abroad? I think so. In this way, not only is molasses cheap and cognac is sold expensive, but we create an additional work front for the industry, we provide workers with work for the whole year.

I also had something for the Ministry of Internal Trade. In today's conditions of rapid economic development, the Ministry of Internal Trade should not play the role of motherhood, that is, of receiving products from industry and agriculture and putting them on the market for sale, but should transform itself into a sales and production body.

Domestic trade, seeing the ever-increasing demands of the people, can create small factories to produce items that industry cannot afford, such as sweets, candies, cookies, and soft drinks, and organize their sale.

Our people should have more initiative. The ideas of the plenum of the Central Committee of the Party should be a source of inspiration for them. With the decisions taken by the 7th Plenum of the Central Committee, we intended to make the peasants interested in increasing agricultural production. When we say that it made the peasants interested, why not also mean the workers? Yes, our people do not take the initiative to extend these decisions to industry.

The 6th Plenum of the Central Committee set tasks for the further development of exports, opening up horizons for the expansion of trade with other countries, etc. As for domestic trade, why doesn't it set tasks for the best possible organization of its activity within the country? The problems that socialist development poses every day are not easy.

They must be given a solution without delay. The Party must instill in our people complete faith in the vitality of socialism, in the very possibilities and colossal reserves that our social order contains within itself. Marxist-Leninist theory, as the theory of the proletariat, is the most progressive ideology of society.

Our people, equipped with this theory, are able to avoid any obstacle, to face any difficulty. Yesterday Reisi (Malile) came to me and self-criticized his reaction and attitude at the Politburo meeting. You, I told him, are doing the right thing by self-criticizing and this problem will be closed between us. The communist must openly tell the Party what he thinks; no one should have prejudices and hold reservations.

This fact does not bother me and you did well, – I continued, – to say those words at the Politburo meeting, but I am concerned about the mentality that has taken root in you, which will hinder you from working. It is wrong to use in your work the working method that we followed 25 years ago. Times have changed, other problems have come to the fore. Today is not the time when we fought to admit China to the UN. My concern should not be only for you as Reiz, – I told him, – but for the entire apparatus of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I further told him that it was in vain that he should have been in the Politburo meeting with Sofokli Lazri. His discussion of the working method in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was very correct and even very constructive, it was a help to you. He showed how your apparatus should work under these conditions and it is a completely normal thing. Of course, Reis's self-criticism was normal. When a person expresses his thoughts, he reflects on what he says.

Comrades must express their opinions openly and without shame. Only in this way will we correct each other. All comrades are militant and combative. Each one expresses an opinion based on the concern he has for the work, he does not start from wrong positions, but when he expresses a wrong opinion, we have a duty to correct him. Therefore, for us to exchange opinions with each other and to discuss problems more freely, I think it is necessary, it is for the good of the work of the Party./ Memorie.al