Local government in our country suffers from a chronic inability to perform one of its fundamental functions, capital investments. The needs for infrastructure, roads and water supply are acute throughout the country, especially in rural areas, but municipalities continue to “burn” millions of euros in investments every year due to the inability to use them.
Official data from the Ministry of Finance shows that in the first 8 months of the current year, only 20.7 percent of the annual investment plan was realized, amounting to 11.9 billion lek, or about 128.5 million euros, out of the 57.6 billion lek (620 million euros) annual plan. This means that 80 percent of the fund, or 491 million euros, will be spent in 4 months.
More detailed data show that the differences between municipalities are considerable, with Kamza and Lezha having relatively high levels of implementation compared to others, while large municipalities such as Tirana, Durrës and coastal ones such as Vlora and Himara have spent only a small portion of the planned funds.
Tirana, the largest budget, but only 14% implementation
The Municipality of Tirana has the largest local investment budget, with around 16.32 billion lek planned. However, by August, actual expenditures amounted to only 2.29 billion lek, or 14% of the total. In absolute terms, Tirana ranks first for realized expenditures, but the pace of realization is significantly lower than the average of municipalities.
Other municipalities with large budgets also show low levels of implementation. Himara has spent 821.6 million lek out of 7.74 billion lek planned, or 10.6%. Durrës has implemented 646.3 million lek out of 5.17 billion lek, with an implementation rate of 12.5%.
In Vlora, the implementation is even lower, at around 10%, with 399 million lek spent out of nearly 4 billion lek planned. Meanwhile, Shkodra has only implemented 9.1% of the investment budget, while Korça only 6.8%.
Kamza and Lezha lead in investments
Unlike other large municipalities, Kamza has the highest level of implementation among municipalities. Out of the planned 2.1 billion lek, Kamza has spent 1.36 billion lek, or 64.9% of the budget during the 8-month period.
Lezha ranks next, with a realization of 51.6%, while Kuçova has spent 50.3% of the planned funds. Relatively high levels are also recorded in Cërrik, Malësi të Madhe, Saranda and Bulqizë. Major projects continue without recorded expenditures
The data also shows that many investment projects, for which funds were foreseen in the budget, did not record expenditures until August.
In the Municipality of Tirana, 1.7 billion lek have been foreseen for investments in the construction of social housing, but the recorded realization is zero.
Likewise, an item for the addition to the contract for the Tirana Theater building, with a budget of around 445 million lek, results in no recorded expenses.
In Durrës, an item for the reconstruction and repair of individual apartments, with a budget of 511 million lek, results in no financial realization. The same situation is observed for the reconstruction of building no. 32, with a budget of about 380 million lek, and the reconstruction of the Palace of Culture, with a fund of about 331 million lek.
In Himara, the construction of the Borsh promenade, LOT i, with a budget of around 459 million lekë, also results in no expenses recorded in the relevant item.
However, a zero financial realization does not necessarily mean that the works have not started. It indicates that no payments have been recorded for the relevant budget item by the reporting date.
The realization of investments is an important indicator of the capacity of the local administration to turn planned funds into concrete infrastructure projects and services for citizens./ Monitor
