Even MPs from the majority have spoken out against the administrative-territorial reform plan. SP MP Vullnet Sina has opposed the merger of the Municipality of Selenica with the Municipality of Vlora, arguing that Selenica should remain a separate municipality. In a long reaction on social networks, he says that the problem is not the number of municipalities, but insufficient funding from the central government.
According to him, Selenica has good functional and economic indicators, contributes significantly to the national economy through mineral resources and oil production, but does not benefit sufficiently from mining royalties. Sina calls on the Assembly to listen to the citizens and maintain the status of Selenica as an independent municipality.
Full reaction of MP Vullnet Sina:
After becoming acquainted with the new administrative-territorial reform project, I am presenting my arguments regarding the opposition to the idea of merging the municipality of Selenica with that of Vlora.
My opinion is that the voice of experts should be heard, but above all the voice and interest of citizens.
During the discussions on the state budget, my position has been that the division of the state budget between the central government and local government is unfair. About 90% of the budget is administered by the central government, while only 10% goes to the country’s 61 municipalities.
I am convinced that the unconditional transfers that municipalities receive from the state budget are very low. If we were to make a fair division of the state budget by increasing the budget for local government, we would not need to reduce the number of municipalities, but to increase their funding, especially for infrastructure investments, supporting the municipalities that are most in need.
The final report “Administrative-Territorial Reform 2.0” highlights the positive indicators of the Municipality of Selenica:
1. Functionality as a municipality
Selenica ranks 29th nationally, with an IFB (Municipal Functionality Index) of 57.3.
2. Economic performance
Even in this indicator, it ranks 29th in the country, with an IPE (Economic Performance Index) of 42.2, above the national average.
The average salary is 58,386 lekë, almost at the level of the national average and higher than in many municipalities of similar size.
Arrears are only 3.6%, a better indicator than the national average.
3. Urban Mass Index (UMI)
The only indicator that could penalize Selenica is the IMU, because the population is spread across many villages and not concentrated in an urban center.
But, precisely for this reason, Selenica should be a municipality, otherwise it would further distance services from citizens.
If the logic of functionality and economic performance were followed, then several other municipalities, which rank lower than Selenica, should no longer be called municipalities. But this is not happening.
The Commission claims that the economic indicators of the Municipality of Selenica are low, based on the number of businesses.
How is it possible that the members of the Commission have forgotten that Selenica has within its territory two of the country’s most important mineral resources: the Selenica Mine and the largest oil production enterprise in Albania, that of Gorrisht.
Does the Commission know how much mining royalties the state benefits from the production of around 35 thousand tons of crude oil per year from Gorrishti i Selenica?
Which of the municipalities that will be called municipalities after the reform make such a large contribution to the state budget?!
The real problem lies in the national tax law.
Municipalities that have natural resources are only returned 5% of the mining royalty (which is 10%), which in practice translates to only 0.5% of the production value.
For four years, I have been trying to change this law. The OSCE also joined me in this initiative, but we still failed to implement this change, so that the value that municipalities benefit from would go from 5% to 30% of the mining royalty.
In conclusion, I think that the municipality of Selenica meets all the criteria to continue to function successfully as a separate municipality.
I hope that the Albanian Parliament respects this reality, listens to the voice of the citizens, and allows Selenica to continue functioning as a separate municipality!