Another alarm over the management of public money has been raised in Durrës, where the director of the Post branch, Elisabeta Mataj, has been dismissed and criminally reported following an internal audit. The official version speaks of irregularities in payment services funds, while according to reported information, the suspicion reaches around €3 million.
What Albanian Post officially announced
According to Albanian Post’s statement, the audit at the Durrës branch was carried out after discrepancies were found during the reconciliation of funds and financial reporting.
The institution says the checks identified violations and irregularities in the management of funds linked to payment services. According to this official version, these funds are not related to pension funds or pensioners’ payments.
Albanian Post says it took immediate administrative measures against the employees held responsible and referred the matter to the Prosecutor’s Office with a criminal complaint and the relevant documentation.
Suspicions over the amount and what remains unclear
Beyond the official statement, according to information reported by reliable sources, there are suspicions of abuse that may reach €3 million.
During the end-of-month cash reconciliation, it was initially reported that around 1 billion lek was missing. Later, during a deeper analysis, the value of the suspected shortfall is said to have turned out to be even higher.
At this stage, there has been no public confirmation from the investigative authorities of the final amount of the damage, so the figure remains at the level of suspicion and not an official conclusion of the justice authorities.
Director dismissed and finance chief resigns
After the audit, the director of the Durrës Post branch, Elisabeta Mataj, was dismissed. It is also reported that the head of finance, Valbona Hoti Duni, has resigned.
The leadership changes come at a time when the institution is trying to present the case as the product of its own control mechanisms, but the very fact that the suspicions speak of such a large amount raises serious questions about how early the discrepancies were detected and how the oversight filters have functioned up to now.
The claim of “effective control” and the questions that remain
In its response, Albanian Post presents the case as proof of the effective functioning of internal control and of its zero-tolerance policy toward violations.
However, when a case reaches the point of a criminal complaint and when such large shortfalls are being discussed, the issue is not closed by self-congratulatory institutional statements. The investigation is expected to clarify not only individual responsibilities, but also whether there was a failure of the oversight structures.
Elisabeta Mataj was appointed to head the Durrës Post branch in October 2025, after the previous director, Etleva Budini, won a parliamentary mandate in the May 11 elections.
For the moment, the case is in the hands of the Prosecutor’s Office, and the claims made publicly remain to be verified by the investigation.
What is already clear is that the case has opened another serious file on the way funds are managed in public institutions and on how real their internal control truly is.