By Zef Preci
Tirana Times, September 30, 2026 – For more than two decades, Albania has had legislation requiring senior public officials to declare their assets and financial interests. Yet persistent concerns over unexplained wealth suggest that the central issue is no longer simply whether officials submit asset declarations. The more important question is whether the state can credibly establish the relationship between their lawful income, the assets they actually control and the lifestyle they maintain.
Recent developments in Hungary offer an interesting point of comparison.
In September 2026, the Hungarian government announced plans for enhanced wealth investigations of senior political officials and published draft legislation assigning a central role to the National Tax and Customs Administration, NAV. The proposed mechanism would examine whether increases in wealth correspond to taxed income and other legitimate sources. It also provides for risk analysis involving relatives and, where relevant, persons or companies to which assets have been transferred. The government has said that the scrutiny could reach as far back as 20 years.
Albania should not mechanically copy the Hungarian model. But it raises a useful question: should our asset-declaration system move from a predominantly declaratory exercise toward a genuine mechanism for identifying and verifying unexplained wealth?
Albania does not start from zero. Law No. 9049 of 2003 already provides a broad framework for declaring and auditing the assets and financial obligations of elected officials and certain public servants. It covers specified family members and gives the High Inspectorate for the Declaration and Audit of Assets and Conflicts of Interest, ILDKPKI, powers to verify information submitted by declarants.
The weakness lies less in the absence of legislation than in its practical effectiveness. Albania already possesses significant legal powers for administrative investigation, access to information and referral of suspected violations. The real challenge is to turn those powers into an integrated and effective system capable of reconstructing the economic reality behind an asset declaration. A mundet Shqiperia te ndjeke sh…
The first step should be deeper digitalization. Asset declarations should become structured electronic data capable of being systematically cross-checked against tax, banking, property, company, notarial and beneficial-ownership records. All declarations could undergo an initial automated screening, while full audits would concentrate on cases presenting significant risk or unexplained discrepancies. This would move the system away from an excessively cyclical approach toward one based increasingly on evidence and risk. A mundet Shqiperia te ndjeke sh…
Second, Albanian legislation needs a clearer methodology for identifying unexplained wealth. The essential question should not be only, “What did the official declare?” but also, “How was this wealth financed?” A meaningful examination would compare starting assets, legitimate income, genuine loans, inheritances and gifts with property acquisitions, investments, debt repayments and significant expenditure. Authorities should first establish a documented discrepancy before requiring the official concerned to provide an explanation. A mundet Shqiperia te ndjeke sh…
Particular attention should also be paid to beneficial ownership. Modern wealth is not necessarily held directly in an official’s name. Assets may be controlled through companies, relatives, third parties or foreign structures. The law should therefore distinguish between formal title and effective economic benefit. At the same time, relatives and third parties should not become presumed offenders simply because of family connections; scrutiny should be based on documented financial links or other concrete indications. A mundet Shqiperia te ndjeke sh…
Another weakness concerns what happens after an official leaves office. Albania requires a declaration after departure, but benefits linked to public office may materialize later. For categories considered at higher risk, a limited period of post-office declaration and monitoring could help identify delayed transfers, ownership changes or other benefits linked to the period in office. A mundet Shqiperia te ndjeke sh…
The most controversial feature of the Hungarian proposal is the possibility of examining wealth accumulated up to 20 years earlier. Albania could consider a longer historical verification period for senior officials, but only with strong constitutional and procedural safeguards. Such scrutiny should not automatically reopen expired criminal or tax liabilities, create retroactive offences or eliminate legally established limitation periods. Administrative verification of how wealth was accumulated and criminal liability are separate legal questions and should remain so. A mundet Shqiperia te ndjeke sh…
Nor should reform create a single super-agency combining every function. ILDKPKI should perform administrative asset-integrity controls; tax authorities should address fiscal liabilities; SPAK or the competent prosecution office should investigate suspected criminal offences; and courts should decide on seizure or confiscation under the applicable procedures. Institutional separation is itself an important safeguard.
Ultimately, Albania does not need simply a Hungarian-style “20-year investigation.” It needs something more systematic: digital declarations, interoperable databases, risk-based scrutiny, identification of beneficial ownership, justified historical verification, post-office monitoring, effective follow-up of referrals and judicial review. A mundet Shqiperia te ndjeke sh…
The real reform would therefore be conceptual: moving from recording what public officials say they own to establishing whether the assets they actually own, control or economically enjoy can reasonably be explained by lawful income.
That would turn asset declaration from an administrative requirement into a meaningful instrument of public integrity.
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