Deputies in the Committee on Economy, Employment and Finance have asked the Supreme State Audit Office to conduct a ten-year audit of the three main concessions in healthcare, basic check-ups, hemodialysis and sterilization, which receive millions of euros each year from the state budget. The request was made during the presentation of the Supreme State Audit Office's annual report for 2024.
As the contracts are nearing their expiration dates, it was Socialist MP Erion Braçe who requested that the accuracy of the services provided and the payments made by the state for each of them be reviewed.
"The report states that the concession contract for hemodialysis has resulted in payments for unperformed services, specifically for 9,241 cases under the projection and 1,557 cases over the projection, amounting to 103.5 million lek. The same behavior is repeated every year. A full audit is needed for the 10 years of these contracts, from day one to the end, for the Ministry of Health to decide whether to extend or terminate them," declared Braçe.
The contract for hemodialysis services, which is offered by the American Hospital of businessman Klodian Allajbeu, is one of the most contested. Violations in this contract were also confirmed by the head of the Albanian Supreme Audit Institution, Arben Shehu, who requested that the government analyze the possibility of recovering financial damages.
"In concession contracts, violations of financing criteria, deficiencies in monitoring and in the assessment of budgetary effects have been found. In some cases, payments have been made for services that were not performed or were performed in volumes lower than projected. The state must analyze these cases and recover the damage within the legal deadlines," said Shehu.
We recall that a few days ago, the deputies in this Commission accused the Competition Authority of a lack of transparency and an incomplete investigation into the packages that private hospitals offer for health services. Socialist MP Erion Braçe was the one who targeted the American Hospital, which he said dominates the private health market and for expanding its influence even on public money through concessions.
