The government has introduced a new bill in Parliament that promises to remove dirty money from circulation and prevent its laundering. On paper, the document contains quite strict rules: it bans cash payments over 10,000 euros, imposes controls on cryptocurrency transfers, and obliges the Cadastre to report within 72 hours any purchase or sale of property over 60 million old lekë.
To a reader who watches the official news, this seems like a major victory for the rule of law. But if we put aside the propaganda, a simple question arises: Why is this law being passed only now, after Tirana and the coast have been flooded with concrete and towers financed with money of unknown origin?
1. Construction allegations: The washerwoman who worked with a "state permit"
For years, the opposition, economic experts, and international reports have warned that the construction sector in Albania has become the main mechanism for laundering criminal and corruption money.
Absurd housing prices: While Albanian salaries remain among the lowest in the region, prices per square meter in Tirana have reached dizzying figures. How is it explained that the demand for cash purchases remained so high?
Laissez-faire (Let them build): Until now, the government has defended itself by saying that construction is financed by bank loans. But reports from the Financial Intelligence Agency (AIF) itself showed that the purchase of properties and land in a suspicious manner remained the main money laundering scheme.
Now, with the new law, the government is trying to show that it is taking measures in advance for Moneyval and the EU. But this seems like putting a lock on the door after the thief has left the house.
2. What specifically changes in the new law?
To make it clearer, here are the three points where the new law affects citizens and businesses the most:
Cash stop over 10,000 Euros: No goods or services will be allowed to be purchased with Lek in hand if it exceeds this amount.
Border at Customs: Police and Customs will have the right to block money at the border even if you have less than 10,000 Euros with you, if they suspect that you are dividing the money into small pieces to hide their background (smurfing).
Cadastre under 72-hour pressure: As soon as a property worth over ~60 thousand Euros is alienated, the Cadastre has 3 days to notify the money laundering agency.
3. Where does the doubt lie? Will the law be implemented?
The problem in Albania has never been the lack of beautiful laws on printed paper, but the lack of will to implement them against the strong.
Will the tower builders be controlled? The law imposes very heavy fines, but the question remains: Will big businesses with political connections be hit or will the fines fall on the shoulders of small real estate agencies and simple notaries?
Does the Cadastre have the capacity? An institution that has historically suffered from delays and corruption is unlikely to process and accurately report every suspicious transaction within 72 hours.
The new draft law is a necessary technical step to fulfill its homework towards the EU. But as long as politics uses building permits as an engine of economic growth without asking about the source of capital, any new law risks remaining simply a beautiful wrapper to cover up the bitter reality.
The construction sector in Albania continues to raise major questions regarding the impact of suspicious money on housing prices. For more on this topic, you can follow this explanation on the impact of money laundering on housing prices, which analyzes how the unsustainable increase in prices is directly affecting citizens and is encouraging the departure of young people from the capital.
