In December last year, the Albanian government altered the meal compensation scheme for thousands of State Police employees, who receive financial compensation for missed lunch breaks due to long working hours. According to the new government decision, the compensation would no longer be transferred to employees’ payroll accounts but instead placed in a special bank account, usable only at designated food retailers or supermarket chains. Despite assurances from former Interior Minister Taulant Balla that police officers could choose which bank and supermarket chain to use, data obtained by BIRN shows that officers were limited to one option: Tirana Bank and the SPAR supermarket chain—both owned by the “Balfin” group, under the control of businessman Samir Mane.
Several police officers told BIRN, under the condition of anonymity, that they were instructed to apply for the special cards at Tirana Bank through their workplaces and were informed they could only use them at SPAR supermarkets. One officer from a small northern town shared frustration over the lack of local SPAR stores, forcing him to travel to Tirana to use the card.
The head of the Albanian Police Union, Sadetin Fishta, condemned the process as unfair and discriminatory, vowing to challenge it legally. Fishta criticized the enforced choice of Tirana Bank and SPAR, calling it a restriction on purchasing options and a form of favoritism. Meanwhile, Balla denied that only two businesses were favored, insisting that the process was transparent and open to 14 banks and all supermarket chains in Albania.
However, economic experts, like Eduart Gjokutaj from “Altax,” argue that the decision and accompanying guidelines from the Ministry of Interior violated competitive principles. Gjokutaj pointed out that public tendering and consultation processes were bypassed, and certain criteria that should have been implemented through a public tender were imposed through a non-competitive legal act.