The Albanian government has not yet fulfilled the necessary conditions for the restoration of European Union support for agriculture under IPARD III - the third programming period of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance for Agriculture and Rural Development.

The blocked funding of €112 million, distributed in nine areas: construction of rural infrastructure, markets, agro-processing, agro-tourism, forestry, support for young farmers, technical assistance and advisory services, reported the Albanian Post.

The European Commission stressed that "if Albania does not ensure the protection of European taxpayers' funds, funding for agriculture will not be resumed." Brussels is ready to continue supporting Albanian farmers, the agri-food sector and rural areas, but only on condition that the EU's financial interests are adequately guaranteed.

“Since European taxpayers’ money is at stake, we expect the Albanian authorities to take this matter extremely seriously,” the Commission’s position also states.

A bilateral procedure is currently underway between the EC and the Albanian institutions, aimed at implementing the necessary corrective measures. The government has informed the Commission that an independent external firm has been commissioned to conduct a comprehensive audit of the IPARD II subsidies granted so far, as well as to assess the recently established internal control and management system.

The blocking of the IPARD program dates back to August 2023, when the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) found serious misuse of European funds under IPARD II — including corruption, political pressure and manipulation of procedures following signals from citizens. | BGNES