Bank of Albania

Kosovo will soon become the 57th country in the world - and the first in the Balkan region - to operate a virtual money ATM, according to Albvision Ltd, the company that delivered the machine.

In a press release distributed in Kosovo and Albania on July 17, the company said that Tirana and Skopje will be the next two destinations where these kinds of ATMs will be placed. 

Greece continues to be the largest investor in Albania, leaving behind countries which may have a bigger economic potential, Bank of Albania (BoA) said on Tuesday.

According to Bank of Albania, the foreign direct investments made by Greece in Albania amounted to 1.22 billion euros in the first quarter of this year, compared to 1.175 billion euros in 2016.

A court in Albania has jailed Ardian Bitraj, a former supervisor of cash deposits at the Bank of Albania, for 20 years for the theft of 713 million leks.

He pleaded guilty and said he had lost the proceedings in gambling. Mimoza Bruzia, another bank employee, got 10 years as a collaborator in the crime.

Lawmakers in Tirana have dismissed Bank of Albania governor Ardian Fullani, who was arrested earlier this week over a sum missing from the central bank's reserve.

The move was backed by an overwhelming majority of 72-6, after the bank's executive board pointed he had posed "a serious threat" to the institution's interests, BGNES wire service has reported.

"We want to give the Bank of Albania a governor from the financial or banking system, who would be praised internationally as a professional, moral and uncontestable choice," Prime Minister Edi Rama told a press conference on Monday.

Bank of Albania governor under pressure after theft probe

The demand comes after the bank announced employees stole millions over a four-year period.

Civil society in Albania is calling for the Bank of Albania governor to resign after it was revealed that bank employees stole more than $7 million over a four-year period.

Police spokeswoman Laura Totraku announced on Tuesday that two brothers with a criminal background suspected of being connected to the murder had been arrested in the town of Fusha Kruja.

“The arrest of the two suspects was made after police gathered information on their links to the murder and their past criminal background,” Totraku said.

Police spokeswoman Alma Katragjini said in a statement that 58-year-old banker Santo was shot at 9.30am local time outside his office in the central Blloku neighborhood of Tirana.  

Katrigjini said that the motive for the murder was unclear; a group of investigators has been assembled to probe it.

IMF economist Nadeem Ilahi, who led a team from the IMF visiting Tirana from April 30 to May 13, on Tuesday said the country's fiscal performance was in line with programme targets in the first quarter of 2014.

“The authorities remain committed to further fiscal consolidation in 2015 in order to begin to reduce public debt as envisaged under their economic program,” Ilahi noted.