Political links are a necessity in Albania to guarantee success in business. Jakov Milatovic, an associated economist in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), revealed – in a special presentation in the framework of the Transition 2017-2018 report, held in the premises of the Bank of Albania – that the political links in the Balkan countries are often the key to success in business.

Albania was listed third from ERDP countries, behind Macedonia and Bosnia, where the political links prevail in the businesses success. 43% of firms in Albania that responded to a survey said that links to politics guarantee a positive performance of the activity, whereas in the other countries of the region and in the developing countries the percentage of businesses that think it like this is much lower.

The EBRD economist said the private sector sees corruption as a huge obstacle. 23% of businesses in the region consider it a very serious or huge obstacle. According to Milatovic, many people see the political links as the key to success in life.

The survey revealed that more than a third of people in the Balkans find the political links more important than work, intelligence and skills, which should be the key to success in life. Consequently, there’s a lack of selection based on meritocracy in the Balkans and the clientelism based on interests dominates instead.

Milatovic added the businesses in the region pay the high costs of corruption. The firms in the Balkans lose 13.2% of their annual sales due to four obstacles in the business environment: crime, electric power shortage, infrastructure and corruption.

Considering these four factors represent only a quarter of the 16 obstacles mentioned in the survey, the total loss because of inappropriate business environment is indubitably higher. In the developed economies, the issues in the business climate are related to the size of markets, job market efficiency, the right use of talents, technology, etc.

As a consequence, the employers are facing a lack of skills in their recruited employees. 12@ of firms in the Balkans reported that the workforce is lacks the necessary education and that is seen as a shortcoming for their perspective. The discrepancies of skills are seen mainly in the sectors of production and tourism.