Vetting show
In 2025 alone, Minister of Finance Petrit Malaj would draft and propose 4 normative acts to amend the state budget, the highest number since 2021 when the country was under emergency conditions of natural disasters, while last year there were neither emergencies nor urgent needs.
It should be noted that a few days after the normative act for the startup, on May 6, 2025, the Democratic Party would denounce Minister Petrit Malaj to the Election Commission due to this act because he had changed the state budget during the election campaign in violation of the electoral code. But the Democratic Party has previously denounced Minister Malaj for his connections with auditing companies owned by his family members.
The appointment of Petrit Malaj as Minister of Finance would raise questions about his role and conflict of interest with the position because, according to official documents, his relatives are found to have private auditing companies during his period as Minister of Finance.
The existence of economic interests of his family members in private auditing companies creates a direct link between the family interest and the minister's area of public responsibility.
From the analysis of the documents of the High Inspectorate for Declaration and Control of Assets and Conflict of Interest, provided by "Open Spending Albania", the AIS platform, and from the financial balance sheets, a documented discrepancy results between the economic activity of Petrit Malaj as a Natural Person, the company "PBM" where he was a shareholder, and the way in which these activities are reflected in the declarations to the HIDAKKI.
According to extracts and financial statements from the National Business Center, Petrit Malaj owned a business as a Natural Person from 2016 for financial consulting services until 2024 when he deregistered. Official balance sheets show that this business has been functional and profitable for several consecutive years, at least until December 2024.
In 2017, the business generated over 7.6 million lek in revenue from services and over 5.4 million lek in profit. In 2022, revenue from services amounted to over 7.6 million lek, while profit after tax amounted to around 5.8 million lek, of which the vast majority was withdrawn by the owner. Even in 2023, according to the explanatory notes to the financial statements, the business generated around 7.6 million lek in revenue and over 5.3 million lek in profit. These data indicate an activity with real financial benefit for the owner. On the other hand, in the HIDAKKI documents, in the declaration before starting the task, the activity as a Natural Person is not declared, the NIPT is not identified and the annual income or profits from this business are not reflected.
The declarations show several bank statements, which are marked with the source "business income", but without specifying the company that generated them, without the annual amount of income and without a direct connection to the official balance sheets from the Central Bank. Therefore, these documents show that Minister Malaj has had an active profitable business for several years, with considerable income and profits, while this data is not reflected in the declarations of private interests at the HIDAKKI.
According to the chairman of "Albania Becomes" Lapaj, if there is concealment of assets, we are committing a criminal offense.
"Article 257/a defines the case exactly when you do not make the declaration. It says it in the second paragraph, it says exactly that. So, when you intentionally conceal it. So I judge that we are within the limits of that article. In cases where concealment occurs, we are in the conditions of a criminal offense," said lawyer Lapaj.
But Minister Malaj was a founder and shareholder of the company "PBM" shpk, which belonged to his family members, who in December 2025 transferred the shares to a passive status.
From official sources it results that Minister Malaj has not declared the profits he has had from this company to the HIDAKKI since until 2019 he was a shareholder, a period in which he sold the shares to his family members. The Law on the Declaration and Control of Assets, Financial Liabilities of Elected Officials and Some Public Servants obliges him to declare all these profits. It should be noted that the company "PBM" shpk has had many profits in previous years, which obliges the minister to declare these assets.
According to lawyer Lapaj, the declaration form must be completed according to the relevant law.
"If the form is not completed according to legal provisions, it is subject to administrative liability for failure to declare, in cases where the law determines it, and to criminal liability, according to Article 257, letter a, of the Criminal Code, for the failure to declare according to a special law," said lawyer Lapaj.
The minister's relatives own two auditing companies, "BDO ALBANIA" shpk and "PBM" shpk, where in the first company they are shareholders together with a citizen and a foreign company.
Since Petrit Malaj's parents and relatives own or are involved in private auditing companies, a conflict of interest situation is created under the law on the prevention of conflicts of interest. Although the law does not automatically prohibit the exercise of public office because of the private companies of family members, it considers these individuals as related persons, whose private interests must be declared and managed with increased care.
According to MP Erald Kapri, this case should be verified by the Special Prosecution Office.
"I strongly hope that there will be an investigation by SPAK and that it will reveal whether there is a clear conflict of interest of the current Minister of Finance and all the interests he may have had," declared MP Kapri.
The Law on the Prevention of Conflict of Interest provides that a conflict exists not only when there is direct benefit, but also when the perception is created that public decision-making may be influenced by the private interests of related persons.
In December 2025, Minister Malaj's family members transferred the shares to a passive state to avoid a conflict of interest, while the minister had been in office since August 2024. Therefore, the transfer of the shares to a passive state was made after more than a year, indicating that a conflict of interest existed.
"Vetting" contacted the High Inspectorate for Declaration and Control of Assets and Conflict of Interests for the reasons why it has not taken measures against Minister Malaj, who is found to have family ties with an auditing company. At the end of the request, "Vetting" requested a copy of the measures that will be taken in this case from the institution, which has become a bunker for public transparency.
For more than a year, Chief Inspector Evgjeni Bashari and HIDACCI Secretary General Arbër Basholli have not provided information about "Vetting" for senior public officials and have not been transparent about the measures taken against these officials.
