Government looking for a new investor after ARMO shutdown
The only oil refining company in Albania ARMO has been closed. 1200 Fier and Ballsh oil workers are remained jobless, while the IRTC Oil investor group has been removed.
During a press conference, Minister of Finance Arben Ahmetaj said the government has approved a decision to accelerate the procedures for providing the overdue salaries to all the employees.
“The government is committed to put on disposal the work office in Fier district to help the employees apply for the unemployment status so that the unemployed workers to benefit immediately according to the law, the unemployment payment”,
Ahmetaj said.
Ahmetaj tried to appease the jobless oil workers and promised that the government is looking for any offer coming from a serious investor group to re-establish the refinery.
“We are looking and wishing for any serious investor to implement ARMO”,
he said.
The ARMO Company was re-established in September 2016 by an American company registered in the British Virgin Islands in collaboration with an Albanian company. The investor promised to restore the former company’s refinement, but official sources say that by the end of 2017, tax arrears and customs debt amounted to $ 60 million in just one year./tvklan.al