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"Traditional" investors return/ For the first quarter, Turkey and Italy lead

2024-06-26 10:20:00, Ekonomi CNA

"Traditional" investors return/ For the first quarter, Turkey and

Illustrative photo, taken from Google

Turkey was the main foreign investor in Albania for the first quarter of this year. According to data from the Bank of Albania, Turkish investments reached the value of 69 million euros, with an increase of 116% compared to the same period a year ago.

Turkish investments have returned to growth since last year, after falling in 2022, mainly as a result of the sale of Albtelecom by the Turkish Çalik group to the Hungarian 4iG.

The stock of Turkish investments at the end of the first quarter has reached 1.06 billion euros, increasing by 27% compared to a year ago. After leaving the telecommunications sector, Turkish companies continue to have an important role in the financial sector, the energy sector, the extractive industry, etc.

Another historical investor in Albania, Italy, ranked second for the first quarter of this year, with a flow of new investments of 41 million euros. The flow of Italian investments fell slightly by 4.7% compared to the first quarter of last year. Italy remains one of the biggest foreign investors in Albania. The stock of Italian investments has reached 1.53 billion euros, 26% more compared to the same period of the previous year. Italian investments are distributed from a sectoral point of view, but are oriented especially in service activities.

Austria ranked third in the list of foreign investors according to new investment flows, for a total amount of 34 million euros in the first quarter of the year. Austrian investments have increased by 143% compared to the previous year. Austrian investments in Albania are concentrated especially in the insurance market, in the energy sector, in hotel services and in the construction sector, with the company. The stock of Austrian investments reached 839 million euros, increasing by 20% compared to the same period of the previous year.

The country that has dominated foreign direct investments in recent years, the Netherlands, in the first quarter of the ranking dropped to fourth place in terms of the value of new investments, with 25 million euros. The value of Dutch investments fell by 58% compared to the first quarter of last year. However, in terms of the accumulated stock of investments so far, the Netherlands remains the largest foreign investor in Albania, with a value of 2.28 billion euros and an annual increase of 24%.

Source: BSH

In fact, genuine Dutch investors in Albania are few. The most important among them is the Shell company, which is estimated to have increased investments related to drilling in the Shpirag area in recent years. However, beyond a growing role of Shell, the leadership of Dutch investments in recent years is mainly related to the fact that the Netherlands is one of the preferred countries in Europe to register holding companies, in order to control the international investments of various business groups. . The Netherlands is preferred for registering offshore companies because the legislation there guarantees a high degree of confidentiality regarding share ownership. Also, the Netherlands is a preferred jurisdiction for the registration of holding companies because it has an extensive network of agreements with other countries of the world for the avoidance of double taxation.

Kosovo continues to increase investments in Albania and for the first quarter new investment flows reached the value of 20 million euros, with an increase of 82% compared to a year ago. Investments from Kosovo in recent years are following a growing trend and are mainly oriented in the trade sector. The stock of investments has reached 330 million euros, increasing by 47% compared to the previous year.

The list of investments by country, however, is missing important investors, such as Canada. New Canadian investment flows are generally not detailed due to confidentiality obligations because they relate primarily to a single investor, Bankers Petroleum.

Data on Canadian investments are available only for their stock, which according to the Bank of Albania in the first quarter of this year reached 1.74 billion euros, an increase of 16% compared to the previous year. Even in this case, these investments are officially Canadian, but the ultimate owner of the company is a Chinese company./ Monitor.al