The budget of approximately 126 million lekë appears insufficient for the Competition Authority. The head of this institution, Denar Biba, has requested additional funding, the recruitment of five more staff members, and a solution to the problem of working premises.
During discussions in the Committee on Initiatives, Biba stated that the institution currently has 53 employees, while the approved structure provides for 49 positions. However, according to him, the institution’s needs require further expansion of staff.
“From our structure of 49 persons, we have recruited some and we are at 53 employees. Our request for 5 additional employees remains”, Biba declared, noting that the budget requests also provide for an additional 16.1 million lekë for salaries and 1.7 million lekë for employees. Another issue that was highlighted in the discussion was the difference in financial treatment between the leaders and the members of the Competition Commission. Biba considered it problematic that the general secretary and the directors of the institution receive higher salaries than the chairman and members of the commission, who bear the legal responsibility for decision-making.
“The general secretary of the Competition Authority has a higher salary than me, although I am the chairman of the Competition Authority. And all the directors of the Competition Authority have a higher salary than the members of the commission, even though we, the members of the commission, are the only ones who bear legal responsibility”, he said. The concern also drew a reaction from the chairman of the committee, Fatmir Xhafaj, who described this salary scheme as unacceptable and called for its review.
“This salary issue makes no sense at all, it is unacceptable. Either cut the salaries. There is a salary hierarchy, it needs to be corrected”, Xhafaj declared. On the other hand, the representative of the Ministry of Finance, Vilma Çausholli, clarified that the problem had been forwarded to the responsible institution, but its resolution is not within the competence of the Competition Authority. “We have forwarded this concern about salaries to the relevant institution, it is not within our remit”, Çausholli said.