Democratic Party MP Enno Bozdo has raised concerns over the management of the oil price crisis in the country, accusing the government of a lack of concrete measures to support affected citizens and sectors.
Invited to the lunch program at News24, Bozdo stated that no real steps have been taken to ease the economic burden that weighs on Albanian families.
"No measures have been taken to cope with the increase in oil prices to ease the economic burden on citizens. Are there any measures for families in economic need, are there any measures for farmers? There is an anti-measure for them, for providing oil without excise duty, they eliminated it," he said.
According to him, current mechanisms such as the Transparency Board do not constitute a real solution to the situation.
"The Transparency Board that these people set up is not a measure. The measure is where the government gives up its own revenues to help those affected by the crisis. What do we pay taxes for? For the provision of services, so that in a difficult moment the government can be close to the citizens," said Bozdo.
He also highlighted the lack of strategic oil reserves in the country, calling this a serious problem and a violation of legal obligations.
"Today, Albania does not have a security oil reserve, it does not exist, it has a legal obligation. There is no mechanism that if the EU says it will release the reserve to ensure the smooth running of industries, it cannot be done," he declared.
Bozdo recalled that the country has been unprepared even in previous crises, such as the pandemic and the earthquake.
"Every time such events happen, we have our hands up. Covid happened, we had our hands up, the earthquake happened, too. This happened with oil, we have our hands up too," the MP said.
He also referred to warnings from the International Energy Agency, according to which stabilizing oil prices may take several months.
"Even if the war ended tomorrow, it would take at least 3-6 months for oil prices to stabilize because production capacities, logistics lines, and reserves have been damaged," he concluded.
