CONSEQUENCES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE PRIVATIZATION PROCESS IN ALBANIA AND NORTH MACEDONIA

Abstract

Although the new strategies in Albania (1998) and legislative changes in North Macedonia (1999-2000) provided an increased level of transparency, not only in the methodology and implementation of the process, but also in the restructuring plans, the choice of investors, the regulation of liabilities, especially for strategic companies with the introduction of the tender sales procedure and the privatization with special laws, this process  was accompanied with many problems in the implementation of the tender sales procedure, purchase contract and investor rights. Unlike Albania, there was no strategy in North Macedonia to privatize strategic companies. The process began in 1999 with the direct sale of the North Macedonian oil company “OKTA”. Tender procedure as a method of privatizing state-owned enterprises was executed one year later. The North Macedonian legislative authority did not provide for the implementation of the process by a central privatization agency, but by a commission of the Ministry of Economy. In addition, the tender sale procedure was carried out with the help of international consultants; and although both governments were more focused in completing privatization in accordance with the law and focusing more on capital acquisition, only marginal privatization proceeds could be achieved. Main objective of this manuscript is the analysis of consequences and recommendations of the privatization process in Albania and North Macedonia