In his book “In the Circle” published a few years ago, Dr. Jorgji KOTE, the Grand Master, has described some interesting and intriguing aspects of the monist past. Having been a well-known official translator and companion for decades with many tourist groups and party delegations (m – l) as well as an expert and director at the former Ministry of Foreign Trade, he has simply and truthfully shown many little-known phenomena and events of that period. In this case, the interest is great because the stories belong to an active citizen and official involved in the gears of the past system and in the major events of that difficult period. These are also reflected in the book in English by the same author “True Stories from Red Albania” which has been well received by the media and the foreign public in Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and elsewhere.
The editorial team is publishing some of the most important events related to foreign trade, tourism, the Marxist-Leninist movement, hostile attitudes towards religion, the further revolutionization of schooling, forced volunteerism and the main slogans of the time in the period 1965-1990, which the author actively lived since his school days and later in the foreign service until the dawn of democracy in 1990. Today we are starting with the first chapter on foreign trade.
Even Foreign Trade Under Siege!
I spent almost 15 important years of my life (1978 – 1992) against all odds in the former Ministry of Foreign Trade, which after 1990 became the Ministry of International Economic Cooperation and then the Ministry of Economy. I started there in March 1978 as a specialist and left in August 1993 as Director of the Business Directorate, after having worked for almost 10 years in the Directorate of Economic Conditions and Prices, and for some time also in the Directorate of Framework and Trade Transactions.
The former Ministry of Foreign Trade (MTJ) was established in December 1977. Until then, its activities were covered by a special directorate in the former Ministry of Trade, which had been headed for 30 consecutive years by competent people, former Minister Kiço Ngjela and former Deputy Minister Vasil Kati; both of them were convicted in 1975 along with other members of the hostile group in the economy, headed by Abdyl Këllezi, another “colossus” of the liberal economy of that time.
The creation of the MTJ was conditioned by several major factors of that time, which are mentioned below:
Trade relations with China were about to be interrupted, for well-known reasons. Thus, Albania had truly remained alone in its kind, having rejected every kind of ally and treaty, even ignoring the vital component of cost in its full sense. However, China carried the main weight of our country's foreign trade and economy. It supplied us with all the necessary goods, from the famous pencils to armaments and industrial facilities, while also importing the main volume of our export goods. Thus, for the evasion of our export goods, only the markets of the eastern or "revisionist" countries, as we called them, were left; but even they could only compensate for a very small part of our export-import needs. Moreover, the opportunities that existed for increasing the trade volume with them could not be practically used, for fear or suspicion that this could be considered as "approaching" the revisionist line "and as if we were bowing down"; Moreover, long ago we had sworn that "we will eat grass, but we will not violate principles"!
Thus, the need to enter Western markets came to the fore, both for the export of goods and for the provision of imports, to supply the giants of our industry, especially the Metallurgical Plant, which mercilessly swallowed the "lion's share" of imported raw materials, especially coking coal, which truly cost "a devil and a half."
In 1981, the Eighth Five-Year Plan was implemented, the first according to the principle of relying entirely on our own forces (until then it had been “mainly on our own forces”). Its essential priority was to significantly increase exports, reduce imports and increase the fund in hard currency (US dollars and other Western currencies). In conditions when the 1976 Constitution not only prohibited, but considered treasonous, the receipt of aid and loans, economic cooperation with the EU, the IMF, etc., export-import remained the only way and alternative to get out of the crossroads in which the country was located.
ours.
Finally, an organic and functional connection was required with the production bodies, which had much greater tasks in the field of increasing products for export and reducing imports. Also from the point of view of propaganda and image, the creation of a separate and specialized department for foreign trade seemed to raise hopes even for the public.
The ministry was initially located in the building of today's Tirana City Hall and a little later, behind the MFA building, which was intended to serve as a place to accommodate diplomats, since the building where the MFA is located today was planned to become the headquarters of the Chinese Embassy. The first Minister of Foreign Trade was appointed Nedin Hoxha, who until 1975 had been Chairman of the Executive Committee of Gjirokastra. A hardworking, energetic, operative, with good sense and mass; he came from the ranks of the working class, but had also graduated from the Party School. Marko Xega, former First Secretary of the Librazhd Party Committee, who was also Secretary of the Ministry's Party Bureau, was appointed Deputy First Minister. Other Deputy Ministers were Myzafer Ahmati who came from the apparatus of the Central Committee of the Albanian People's Party, a noble but scholastic man who only knew the basic principles and who had no knowledge of foreign trade affairs; the other Deputy Minister, the late Myrteza Sinoimeri, was a pragmatic, resourceful man who knew administration and economics, as he had also been Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Fier District.
The appointment of the two heads of the department by the high Party apparatus was a serious warning that even foreign trade would be held like the "sword of Damocles" by party ideologism and dogmatism. In 1982, after the elimination of Mehmet Shehu and Kadri Hazbiu, Nedin Hoxha left as Minister to be appointed Chairman of the Executive Committee of Gjirokatra, later in Burrel and in Vlora, where he always stood out for his spirit of initiative and pragmatism; therefore, today he is remembered and mentioned with respect by the people he worked with, but also by ordinary people. His place was taken by the late Shane Korbeci, a skilled technician, mechanical engineer, former director of "Makinaimport".
Other deputy ministers during this period, extremely capable and good people until the 90s, were Jetnor Rama (who left in 1982 as a relative of Fiqrete Shehu), Pajtim Ajazi, among the young leaders with an emancipated mentality and who knew foreign trade very well, having served for eight years as our Trade Advisor in Berlin; Altin Ylli, a skilled professional who climbed the career ladder with work, professionalism and wisdom, from specialist, trade attaché in Greece and Deputy Minister.
Both were and remained communicative, capable and honest people, something not very common for people in trade. After 1985, he was appointed Deputy Minister, after he was also elected as a Candidate for the CPSU Central Committee, the former Director of Transalpine Albania, Kostandin Hoxha; the latter, contrary to expectations, was more distinguished for his zeal and party activity, remaining far from professional expectations. The Ministry was organized like all departments and with its own specificity. It also had operational directorates according to countries and goods; it also included functional directorates - planning, finance, balance, personnel, etc.
Immediately after the establishment of the MTJ, by special decision of the Politburo, the Directorate of Conjuncture and Prices was also established, with 10 people, with branches in all other enterprises, even in the main manufacturing enterprises. This Directorate, together with its structures in specialized foreign trade enterprises and our trade representations abroad, such as in Italy, France, Greece, Sweden, Austria, Egypt and the countries of the East, followed step by step the trends and fluctuations of the conjuncture and prices in the international commodity markets and stock exchanges, especially of chrome, oil, metals, agricultural products, in order to benefit as much as possible in exports and lose as little as possible in imports.
We worked in that directorate for over 10 years with more or less the same staff; therefore, I must mention its first director, the late Dervish Gjiriti; those who followed him, my friends and predecessors as directors, Vaso Pilo and Vasillaq Shanon, among others, also valuable citizens; as well as my old and good colleagues and friends, true experts, Maksim Haxhiu, Alfred Pajo, Besnik Shtylla, Stavro Konduri, Kiço Kalaja, Andrea Laçej and Spartak Mersini; the precious colleagues, Lumturi Budo and Vera Malile, the late Zaira Zoraqi and the rare noble lady of the entire Ministry, Vasilika Xhixho.
Although part of foreign trade enterprises, we always had our honorable colleagues from the conjuncture there, always correct, effective and friendly – Vjollca and Avni Xhani, Pandeli Kozmai, Hysen Seseri and the unforgettable for his dedication and kindness – the late Dilaver Shkurti. Despite the events, the tension of work and the many vicissitudes, we were and remained loyal colleagues and friends, sharing the good and the bad together, in every situation.
While after 1980, in order to cope with the needs and demands related to the projects for the construction of large works, such as factories, combines, hydroelectric power plants, etc., the Directorate of Facilities was created, with its branches in Tirana and in the districts, which has done a voluminous work. MTJ had political subordination to the relevant sector of the CC of the ALP and that of the Council of Ministers. One of the Secretaries of the CC and Deputy Prime Ministers directly followed its activity in every cell. Its director was Luan Gorishti, among the noblest people and a true gentleman, in addition to high professional skills.
Also, at that time, since there was a “hunger” for expert cadres, since the vast majority of them had been sentenced to prison, or had been removed as unworthy from foreign trade, since they had to know English but also learn some elementary things from foreign trade, an intensive three-month specialization course was organized with 20 of our friends and colleagues who had graduated from high school in English and French and they were appointed to foreign trade enterprises or to our trade representations abroad. It is a well-known fact of that time that our trade partners had many complaints about the deficient communication in English.
But, the foreign trade of that time and later had many outstanding specialists and managers, among whom many equally capable women also stand out. They mainly came from experience as specialists and managers in production, but who with work and dedication very quickly took up the craft of foreign trade, despite the limitations and difficulties mentioned below. Asking for forgiveness from other friends and colleagues of that time that I cannot mention them all here and being convinced of their understanding, in addition to the names cited above, I am mentioning only a few of them, among the best known and with whom I have been most connected by work; behind them there are over 10 years of joint work, both challenging and interesting and attractive, as well as an abundance of stories, events and episodes that would take weeks to tell:
Directors and Deputy Directors in the Ministry and in foreign trade enterprises: "masters" in their craft, energetic and tireless, the late Aleksandra Çollaku, Fiqrete Sala, Tale Dibra and Loreta Bedalli; the late Niqifor Alikaj, Azbi Gjikondi, Ali Zajmi, Piro Bezhani, Jeton Hajdari, Ymer Buzi, Piro Totozani, Ylvi Sinani and Ante Kajo as well as Stefanaq Tollkuçi, Ferdinand Kita, Ilir Abdiu, Jorgo Themeli, Sheraf Mosho, Gjolekë Zeneli, Ymer Çeliku, Ylli Treska, Luan Shahu, Hito Minga, Sevo Vangjeli, Ligor Dhamo; branch heads, true specialists: Natasha Moisiu, Vilma Nushi, Donika Titka, Zare Berberi, and Vilson Ahmeti, who climbed the career ladder from Makinaimport to Prime Minister in a few months; It is also worth mentioning our good colleagues and friends, experts in their fields and trade attaches abroad: Spiro Gjika, Muharrem Metani, Sadedin Sado, Vladimir Vezuli, Agim Hysaj, Llambi Thomaj, Dritan Selo, Sokol Kabo, Sali Ulqinaku, Petraq Gramo, Pashko Steaj, Sokrat Korini, Vangjel Kovaçi, Aljosha Gjondedaj, Simon Poreçi, Ali Mato, Pirro Trebicka, Ilir Kodra, etc.
These and many others, including those from other support sectors, were and remain serious, prepared, capable cadres who knew the situations and had to act in difficult conditions, but who raised their voices to the highest authorities, even putting themselves at risk. They even used the recognition or reputation they had built with senior leaders mainly to help others in need or to explain to them the work and steps that needed to be taken, of course, to the extent that their place and opportunities allowed.
Therefore, when we see each other, wherever they are and live, after over 20 years we meet as friends and with good memories. Time is the best judge – says a word. And time has exalted their work and character in our eyes. And now, without falling into the “trap” of exhaustive analyses or boring theorizing, simply for information for those interested and not to show “what we have removed”, I am going into details of some of the absurdities that we had to deal with during our work of several years, where ideologizing and extreme politicization was a serious obstacle, as it penetrated even the most technical aspects, in the truest sense of the word.
Without export, there is no import!
It was the main slogan that dominated our life and work and many centers of work and production. Beautiful in sound, but which created so many problems and difficulties in practice. This slogan was thought of as a way out of the absurd self-encirclement. Its essence was that Albania could not buy, that is, import from abroad more than it could sell, or export. But, given that the country's needs, according to the decisions of the Congresses of the Albanian People's Party, were constantly increasing, both for consumer goods, clothing, food, and for heavy industry, these needs could be estimated at at least up to 1 Billion Dollars. At a time when our export revenues did not exceed 300 million dollars. How could the problem be solved? The solution was ready and forced and was made
refrain “Shortening with the scissors of import”. Let us clarify this aspect better, by giving some synthetic indicators of the basic structure of Albanian exports at that time: -chrome ore (production 1,2 million tons per year; Albania ranked first in chromium exports per capita) in the world together with ferrochrome, which was produced in two plants in Bulqiza and Elbasan and provided 25 percent of export revenues, of course with pluses and minuses, depending on the market situation. Our ore, especially that of Bulqiza, had a high chromium content, up to 42 percent, which made it extremely suitable for metallurgy; therefore, it was quite in demand and represented the strongest “item” of our export. But, when sales prices dropped significantly, it became "gangrene" for the economy and foreign trade, as happened, for example, in 1978-1980, when all passengers passing through Durrës could see the "mountain" of unsold chrome waiting to be sold.
the green light.
-oil by-products, gasoil and bitumen, the export of which also provided about 25 percent of the income. Therefore, at that time the slogan that "chrome and oil break the blockade" was quite well known
-Fresh agricultural products, fruits, vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, watermelons) and fruit compotes, canned sardines in olive oil) 25 percent
-Metals, copper wire, iron - nickel, marble, beverages, textile products, tapestries, carpets, 20 percent;
-salt, gravel, donkeys, frogs, snails, olivinite, dolomite, artistic products, blue jeans, overalls, clothing, artistic pipes equal to 5 percent of income, but which employed thousands of people.
It is worth mentioning here some of the country's main enterprises specialized in export products - the chrome mines in Bulqizë, Batër and Krastë in Dibrës, in Kam and Kalimash in Tropojë, the copper enrichment mines and factories in Pukë and Mirditë, the Copper Wire Factory in Shkodër, the marble extraction plants in Muhur in Dibrës, the Artistic Works Enterprise "Migjeni" in Tirana, the carpet and upholstery production enterprises in Tirana, Krujë, Kavajë, Kukës, Korçë, various beverage and wine cellars, especially in Durrës, Lushnje, Përmet, Librazhd, etc., agricultural enterprises and cooperatives in Tirana, Elbasan, Shkodër, Lushnje, Vlorë, Korçë, Gjirokastër, etc.
They were led by highly capable cadres even for today's time, with outstanding leadership skills and experts in their fields, even though they had to operate within ideological, administrative and financial constraints. I always looked with special admiration at those people who were advanced in thought but also humane, who did not know how to do harm, but only good. I am reminded of the respected former director of the Bulqiza Mine, Todo Manço, and later for many years, Martin Cukalla, the Director of the Copper Wire Factory in Shkodër, Terezina Marubi, who later became the Minister of Light and Food Industry, the Chief Engineer of the Berat Textile Combine, Lefter Koka and many others.
I have been fortunate to get to know and have working contacts with some of them, and even to meet them in recent years. I would like to mention here the Former Director of the Food Plant in Tirana during the 80s, Sadik Shkëmbi; a vital, energetic, resourceful leader and a social person. He radiated these values even many years after his retirement. By a fortunate coincidence, his son, Rezari, has become my colleague and close friend, since we worked together at our Embassy in Berlin 10 years ago; it is a pleasure to see that Rezari has also distinguished himself, first in Bonn and Berlin, then at our Consulate in Bari, in Rome and now in Milan, for his skills, competence and exemplary common sense, as a citizen diplomat in the service of our people and compatriots.
Special consideration was also given to the former Director of the Artistic Enterprise “Migjeni” Çerçiz Hoxha, a modern businessman, master of artistic works and very proactive. During meetings at home and abroad, I noticed that he saw and acted skillfully beyond “walls and fences.” The products of “Migjeni” were quite well-known abroad. Undoubtedly, the success of these and other directors like them is also dedicated to the work, craftsmanship and sweat of thousands of employees and specialists, who did the impossible for their country, for their well-being and their name as masters.
As mentioned above, in accordance with the Party's directives of that time, the working collectives of the city and the village took or rather were forced to take initiatives to increase production and especially of items for export; meanwhile, there were favorable conjunctural moments for chrome, which caused the above-mentioned figures to increase or decrease. But more or less that level could not be exceeded.
Regarding imports, real needs and demands were dozens of times greater than export revenues. Here are the main groups of Albanian imports:
-Equipment and machinery of all types, for light and heavy industry up to complete equipment and works;
-Chemicals for agriculture (over 15.000 types) which were quite expensive, so most of them were purchased at clearing houses.
-Coking coal for the Metallurgical Combine, which was extremely expensive, came from Poland and Canada and was urgent as its lack endangered the Metallurgical Furnace;
-Clothing and food materials, mainly or entirely from the countries of origin
It was here that the great action of foreign trade and production bodies began; on the one hand, it was sought to see the possibilities of increasing exports with "new items" and on the other hand, to make cuts in imports. For this purpose, in foreign trade, quite rightly, many production cadres were brought in, especially in the field of import reduction; this was beautifully shown in one of the shows "History with noise" by my colleague Spiro Madhi, Engineer at NISH-Kimike, who later worked for a long time at Makinaimport;
But these cuts had more propaganda value, since nothing great was achieved with them, despite the spirit and innovative spirit that prevailed in the country. Thus, the sector mentioned above, which was among the largest, could not save more than 12 million dollars a year; together with the other sectors, 50 million dollars were made or not made; this was a considerable amount for propaganda needs, but completely negligible for meeting the growing needs. On the other hand, there were constant problems in the export sector, as workers produced various items, but there was no market for them and thus they remained “at our door and in our hands”.
This is because our production bodies at that time had no way of knowing the market's demands, its standards, marketing, or sales procedures. Unless they were in line with the Party's orders, they were exceeding the plan, producing items for export, so as someone said "let foreign trade tear its eyes out to sell them". In addition, even when the market was found or when it existed, due to competition, it took 2-3 years to develop it.
But commercial marketing and advertising were considered “hostile” at that time. In fact, advertising expenses according to the theory of socialist economics were signs of the decay of capitalism. Therefore, what constantly happened was the praise of the working collectives and criticism of foreign trade for its slowness in finding markets and evading goods. But this was not a word of mouth. Meetings and analyses on this in the party, collectives, professional unions and even the Politburo were daily, but the results were still lacking, because the fault actually lay elsewhere, it was the system itself. There was no delegation and working group that went abroad that did not submit a long list of new items in gigantic quantities.
The peak was with dolomites, olivinites and iron-nickel which were given to us in large quantities; but their quality left much to be desired and the demands of the foreign market were minimal. The situation of commodity prices was another major obstacle and problem for all parties; foreign trade, when it saw that the situation of the price of chrome would increase, required that the quantities be deposited for later, in order to increase effectiveness; However, since there were no other foreign exchange resources as necessary for the purchase of the most necessary goods, chrome was sold at any moment and we lost a lot of income. When they criticized us for the decline in income and we gave the reason, we were told in a very bureaucratic manner why we did not foresee the situation in advance, without even knowing who determined it.
While when the conjuncture fell, that is, when demand fell, because the economy was in crisis, chrome became a stock in Durrës and lightning started coming from all sides. Our solution was to send working groups to the main points abroad, but even they did not yield any results, because as we see now, in times of crisis, producers and traders are extremely frugal. This is what happened during 1980, when together with the leaders of Mineralimpeks we went to Italy and Switzerland to make it possible to evade the “mountain” of chrome in Durrës; despite our efforts, our partners did not accept a price higher than 40, from the minimum of 50 dollars/ton that we were asking for, because that was what the plan required! The country's financial situation became so serious, especially after 1985, that we were also asked to sell salt for paving the roads when it snowed. But sometimes there was no snow at all and they wouldn't take it from us, even though we begged them as colleagues to keep it in the warehouses. But that cost them much more than importing it, so we prayed for a little snow!
In the production of tapestries and carpets, we really had quite good products and large quantities. Our artisans in Tirana, Kruja, Elbasan, Korca, produced products that were one better than the other. Truly top-notch tapestries and carpets. However, competition in international markets from Iran and other well-known Arab countries did not allow us much space, not to mention the high taxes. Under these conditions, it was necessary to adapt to market demands, coming out with lower prices. However, the planned economy and excessive centralization of prices did not allow for such a thing. Until one day, tapestries and carpets remained in stock, or as we used to say at the time, "slow-moving goods." The only option was to sell them at prices half as low. This was sound economic logic and not to keep them in warehouses, without collecting a single lek. However, the condemnation of hostile groups for these reasons had done its job and no one dared to come up with proposals of this nature.
With great difficulty, an option was finally accepted that eased the situation, but without resolving it definitively. Undoubtedly, among the goods with which “we felt comfortable” were fresh vegetables and herbs; our markets in Germany, Austria, Switzerland were secure. This was due to the early production and their “organic” character. However, here too, slow transport was an obstacle, since our vehicle fleet was small and depreciated. Meanwhile, revisionist Bulgaria “had 4500 refrigerated vehicles; I am not mentioning Israel and other countries that used airplanes. Medicinal plants were another profitable item for us, but there were limits to increasing their quantities, since our markets were fixed and did not leave much room for maneuver. In short, the markets had their own specifics and did not want to know about the principles and dogmas of our system.
However, I would like to mention here the fact that we felt a great relief in our work thanks to the cooperation and understanding of the "sister" departments - the Ministry of Finance, the State Planning Commission, the Albanian State Bank, etc., and in particular from the sectors, managers and specialists covering foreign trade.
I emphasize this because even the ministries with which we had many debates, up to the highest levels, everything was dictated to them by politics from above and in many cases, willy-nilly, they imposed things that were not implemented. However, in the vast majority of cases, understanding and realism prevailed among them. The former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Gani Qemo, not only an intellectual and skilled technician, but also with outstanding understanding and extremely humaneness with everyone, are remembered and will always be remembered with special consideration; Maqo Bleta, former Deputy Minister of Industry, specialist and leader with great capacities; Tonin Paloka, the specialist and ultra-correct and operational colleague of the Ministry of Light and Food, with which there were not only many problems, but also sensitive ones for society and foreign trade; the objective and respected expert of the Planning Commission, who continues research in this field to this day, Eqerrem Beci; the Ministry of Finance's awards specialist, Dhurata Metohu; undoubtedly, a special place in this assessment also belongs to the then specialists at the Institute of Economic Studies, and many old colleagues and friends.
Vlora water for the American Army?
In 1982, after an investment in the Cold Water Plant in Vlora, its springs with wonderful water were made available for sale to foreign trade. However, even this item that was considered easily marketable had its own problems, especially with determining the price. On a service abroad in France with two colleagues in December 1988, during a meeting with representatives of a well-known French drinking water company, we were told that first of all we lacked a name and brand in the market, which required its own time and the appropriate marketing. Therefore, we could not claim to enter the market at the same price as other well-known countries in the market, regardless of the quality of our Vlora water. And secondly, it required bottled packaging that we did not have.
We had. These affected the selling prices of drinking water, especially in the really thirsty Arab markets.
In our case, to enter the market, this price had to be two times lower than that of other countries. However, the State Planning Commission and the Ministry of Finance had planned the sale at the maximum market prices and you "kill yourself" - as their officials wanted to say.
However, thanks to the highly competent lawyers and experts that we had, where the late Piro Totozani or Dhame Pite and Agim Tartari excelled, it was possible to sign a contract, but it was not implemented for reasons of trust. Then the opportunity was found to sell it in Malta, but at a price half the market price. Despite the low tariff, selling the water there was still profitable, since the cost of its production was almost zero. But at that time, the party's vigilance had done its job. How did it happen to be found out by chance (where there was nothing that was not found out then) that our water would be drunk by the soldiers of the American base in Malta and this fell like a real bomb.
Despite the arguments given that "in the end, who cares who drinks it, because we sell the water officially and under contract to Malta", foreign trade was also criticized for lack of vigilance. This contract was also broken and the water in Vlora continued to flow in vain. Those who suffered were of course our economy in crisis, as it lost a much-needed source of income, as well as our lawyers and experts.
Even energy storage – credit
In the second half of the 80s, we all witnessed numerous power outages in our homes but also in work and production centers, as major consumers. Given these problems and international practice, foreign trade suggested storing excess amounts of energy and exporting it to Greece, during its peak periods, when it was needed and receiving it during peak periods for us. It is a form of energy exchange that is widely applied in the world today and with great benefit. To our surprise, even this saving form was opposed by the senior leadership of the government, because it was considered as “giving and receiving credit”.
Although many technical and political arguments were given that energy was a completely separate commodity and that storage was a strictly technical procedure, and that here everything would be done for a fee, it would take years and above all the screaming needs of our industry for energy to finally allow the application of this normal form of trade.
Collection, balances and taxes – sin and crime
In many meetings and gatherings I often heard the term "collection payment", but I did not understand what it was and moreover why it was "cursed" as capitalist and as a slave loan. Later, during my one-year qualification at the Vienna University of Economics, I learned that collection payment was a common form of payment that in English is called "collection of documents".
The idea is that the seller sends the goods, while the recipient, after verifying the quantity and quality, collects the documents and sends them to his bank, which makes the appropriate payment. This purely technical and payment procedure takes a week or up to 10 days. A completely normal form when it comes to reliable partners, who have long-term business relationships, as in our case. This means that the reliability of the bank and our foreign trade enterprises regarding the correctness of making payments was absolute.
We used this form of payment especially with Greece when we urgently needed, for example, welding electrodes for the Metallurgical Plant. However, once again the vigilant eye of the Party discovered this “loan” that we were taking from the Greek capitalists, trampling with both feet the Constitution of 1976. Despite the arguments of the experts of that time, who also had political credibility, the order was firm: “Don’t joke with collections, because you will go to jail if you do it!”
Another term that I did not understand but when my colleagues explained it to me I was surprised why it was considered a crime and impermissible by the regime was “active and passive balances”. There was no meeting where this term was not mentioned when it came to trade with Eastern countries through clearing. This problem was also addressed in several meetings of the Politburo and in Enver Hoxha’s speeches. There was no crime or sin in it. According to the “rouble clearing” agreements that we had for each year, broken down into quarterly and monthly terms, we exported and imported various goods from Eastern countries.
Their value was recorded in the relevant balance sheets and records. For example, during a month or quarter, a certain country sent us x value of chemicals and we gave them x tons of chrome. But of course, within this period it was impossible to match their monetary value, due to different prices; thus, in a certain quarter, it turned out that we had sold or bought more or less from a certain country; but, at the end of the year, the export-import balance had to be equal, without any balance, that is, no difference in the value of export - import, whether active or passive.
Otherwise, this was considered as a loan that we had given to (active balance) or received from partners (passive balance). This constituted another obstacle in trade relations with Eastern countries, in addition to the other ideological aspect.
In the late 80s, former Politburo member Haki Toska, considered one of the most powerful people in the regime, took over the Ministry of Finance.
Apparently it was thought that he would be able to restore order to the Albanian finances that had gone downhill. In fact, as will be seen below, the fault was not with the finances. Thus, he "discovered" that Albania was the only country in the world that did not apply taxes to the imports of other countries, while the latter did not respect reciprocity and applied taxes, even high ones, to our exports, making many of them unprofitable!!!
Therefore, a firm order was given that in all talks with foreign delegations this “sin” against us should be addressed and the possibility of abolishing these taxes should be considered. Everyone understood the absurdity of this directive and that it was impossible for us to make the whole world tax-free; but the order had to be implemented, even formally. Thus began the odyssey of long and tedious talks, where almost 70 percent of them were occupied by the debate on abolishing taxes from other countries, for reciprocity with our side. However, this problem was raised by all the interlocutors of the departments and their foreign counterparts had to repeat it dozens of times. More or less, the foreigners had explained well and beautifully and with the necessary courtesy that the only way for Albania not to be subject to the tax system was for its high authorities to issue an official declaration, where our country would be declared a “developing country”.
But who would dare to issue such a statement, when, according to the Constitution, "Albania was the only and true socialist country in the world."
Our interlocutors made concessions and agreed that this statement could be made even by the Foreign Minister, even with the promise that it would not be made public! Our counter-proposal was that this be made by a director of a department, which was of course unacceptable to them; Finally, after almost two years of struggle, it was seen that this was a futile adventure and it was abandoned.
The history of "PMs"
Although we did foreign trade, it was very limited and within many restrictive lines. Even with countries that we considered friends. To these were added import restrictions, since we only wanted to sell, but not buy. As a result, in negotiations with different countries we were put in a difficult position, since we had to reject many of their articles and goods, which for us at the time were considered luxuries and were almost not imported. This in certain cases also created humorous situations, which even today when we remember them we cannot help but laugh. This also happened during a working visit to Turkey, in 1984, where we were with the directors of the Ministry, Fiqrete Sala and Aleko Lipe. In the talks at the level of the working group for the preparation of the list of export-import goods, as part of the Verbal Process that would be signed in two days by the Ministers, our good Turkish friends "got the saw stuck in the nail".
So, they offered tourist buses, which were out of the question for us to buy, since we had very few tourists. They offered refrigerators, we said “no” because there were no funds, they offered washing machines, we still said no, they gave us televisions, we still said no; we refused all of them, not because we didn’t need them, but because we lacked the necessary foreign exchange funds. Under these conditions, in order not to offend our hosts, who every time we went to Turkey were extremely hospitable, creating a very pleasant and truly fraternal atmosphere for us, during these talks, so that “No” would not be written, we proposed to our Turkish colleagues to write “Pro Memoir” next to it.
This meant that we would take these offers into account and, if there were demand during the year and especially payment possibilities, we would turn to them for all the goods marked with “PM”. However, during those negotiations, almost half of the list of goods was filled with “PM”. At one point, the Turkish leader, the late Ibrahim Ynly, a very capable and humorous man, after listening very patiently to the last “PM”, turns to us and says very sweetly in Albanian:
and smiling: "I think this was done by Work..."!
Fiqrete Sala burst out laughing first with her characteristic loud voice and then all of us. We asked him how he knew this expression, in fact very appropriate in that case. He replied that he had been warned by a friend of his from Kosovo Albanians, who knew our plight and he had given him the above original “translation” of “pro memoir” in Albanian.
It was really banal, but extremely hit! Later, with our friends and colleagues, when it came to such lists, we would jokingly ask them if we had many such "Work on..." and this added humor everywhere, especially abroad.
(BalkanWeb)
