The involvement of individuals with criminal backgrounds or ties to the underworld among strategic investors must be viewed within a broader context. From a political perspective, this phenomenon represents the clearest evidence of the coexistence of crime with politics and the capture of the state by organized crime. Economically, this category of entrepreneurs plays a complex role: on one hand, they secure tax privileges and other benefits that help legitimize their financial sources — whether known or unknown — placing themselves in a more favorable position in relevant markets (such as construction or operation of resorts); on the other hand, they serve as a source of illegal financing for ruling political parties and the illicit enrichment of certain politicians and high-level decision-makers.
These latter figures often maintain tolerant stances toward money laundering and initiate questionable legal measures favoring specific interests. These include allowing the import of hazardous waste, extraordinary government measures “in the name of urban development” that nationalize private properties to hand them over to clientele for building towers or coastal resorts, as well as legal amendments affecting tourism, protected areas, gambling, and recently proposals for fiscal, asset, and criminal amnesties. In other words, these are economic sectors with opportunities for rapid profit and objective and subjective difficulties for domestic or foreign law enforcement agencies to monitor. In this way, these individuals exercise undue influence over state institutions, including the judiciary, becoming a strong shield for segments of organized crime with whom they are linked.
It is also worth emphasizing that the very selection of projects proposed by these entrepreneurs clearly indicates non-compliance with the existing legal framework, a lack of inter-institutional cooperation, and extreme politicization of decisions that have very harmful consequences for the state budget, public assets, and Albanian society as a whole. This situation creates a series of immediate and long-term consequences that affect fundamental aspects of the country’s economic and social life. Some of these consequences include: enabling widespread money laundering often involving tens of millions of euros; distortion of market competition, which leads to the failure or impossibility of development for legitimate businesses; placing state institutions at the service of organized crime interests; and the use of illegal funds in election campaigns, which severely damages the integrity of the electoral process.
Furthermore, the influence of organized crime segments on the Albanian economy, especially over the last decade, has expanded into the field of public procurement. This influence has become increasingly sophisticated through businesses created specifically with direct or indirect ties to decision-makers at various levels of government, due to conflicts of interest. This shows that strategic investors are not the only instrument of state capture by organized crime. On the contrary, there is a large number of enterprises benefiting from concession contracts to extract “easy money” through corruption with public funds. Additionally, “5D”-type businesses have massively proliferated, operating as fictitious financial structures for money laundering, making it increasingly difficult for honest businesses to operate and for citizens aiming to build a decent life through honest work in Albania.
