Minister of Interior Affairs Dritan Demiraj has set new legal regulations for security companies, after several have been the target of armed robberies. The ministry announced that there will be three types of licenses: for security of buildings and persons; for security of monetary transports and bank; for the training of security personnel.
The new regulations also prohibit (former) police officers, military, or secret service personnel from occupying a management function in security firms; they may only be involved in training security personnel.
Moreover, one person is not allowed to direct or own more than one security firm.
The new regulations aim to increase the professionalism of the security industry, but also combat the enormous number of security firms competing for government tenders. As Exit wrote before, security firms form an illegal price-fixing cartel, which the Albanian Competition Authority so far has failed to investigate properly.
That these cartels are still operations is clear from a quick inspection of the most recent public procurement bulletin. 14 security companies placed a bid of 1,676,360.62 lekë on a tender for the security of the Central State Healthcare Inspectorate in Tirana; 9 security companies placed a bid of 1,814,943.22 lekë on a tender for the security of the Regional Court in Mat, whereas three other placed a bid of 1,803,340.85 lekë; for the security of the Directorate-General of Taxes in Tirana, all five companies participating in the tender offered a price of 4,787,594.33 lekë. And these are only the first three examples.
In nearly all these cases, the final winner is determined by lot, instead of by the quality of the services offered. Perhaps the new regulations will change this situation.
