On Wednesday, the government approved the allocation of funding in the 2026 state budget for religious communities that have signed agreements with the Council of Ministers.
According to the decision, the total funding amounts to 203 million lek (two hundred and three million lek), dedicated to financially supporting the activities and functioning of religious communities during the upcoming year.
“The funding amount of 203,000,000 (two hundred and three million) lek from the 2026 budget, approved to support religious communities, will be allocated as follows:
a) The Muslim Community of Albania will receive 57,300,000 lek, divided into:
i. 28,200,000 lek for financing half of the minimum state salary for 94 administrative employees;
ii. 29,100,000 lek for financing half of the minimum state salary for 97 employees in preschool, pre-university, and university education institutions.
b) The Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania will receive 48,600,000 lek, divided into:
i. 24,600,000 lek for financing half of the minimum state salary for 82 administrative employees;
ii. 24,000,000 lek for financing half of the minimum state salary for 80 employees in preschool, pre-university, and university education institutions.
c) The Catholic Church in Albania will receive 48,600,000 lek, divided into:
i. 15,000,000 lek for financing half of the minimum state salary for 50 administrative employees;
ii. 33,600,000 lek for financing half of the minimum state salary for 112 employees in preschool, pre-university, and university education institutions.
ç) The World Bektashi Headquarters will receive 48,500,000 lek, divided into:
i. 9,000,000 lek for financing up to half of the minimum state salary for 30 administrative employees;
ii. 28,000,000 lek as a contribution to the construction of the Shtuf Teqe in Gjirokastër;
iii. 11,500,000 lek due to its special status as a World Headquarters based in Tirana and its international activity, to be used to fully or partially cover its submitted budget requests for 2026, in accordance with the provided financial documentation.
- The transfer of the funds specified in point 1 of this decision will be carried out in a single installment within April 2026.
- The Ministry of Finance and the State Committee on Cults are responsible for the implementation of this decision,” the document states.
The post Government approves funding for Religious Communities in 2026 appeared first on Euronews Albania.
