"Performance grant deepens in 2026" - Demo: Municipalities that perform better will be funded more
During 2026, the performance grant will be deepened. This was stated by the Minister of State for Local Government, Ervin Demo, during a press conference.
"The performance grant has been 50% funded by our partners, by donors such as the Swiss Embassy and also by the state budget. There are about 4 million euros that have been allocated to municipalities to measure clear, generally regulatory indicators in terms of their functioning.
"We believe that municipalities that perform better, municipalities that seek better services for citizens, should definitely have the opportunity to be financed. Therefore, the performance grant will become a motivating instrument for municipalities themselves to provide better services for their citizens. This will be a very important year for the performance grant as we will move to specific measurements of the services provided in the territory ," said Demo.
Minister Demo also spoke about the Mountain Package, for which he said that the interest from municipalities to determine priority areas is very high, but so far only 13 municipalities have determined them.
"The Mountain Package has been one of the initiatives that we are focusing very hard on. It is very clear which categories can benefit through this package. The Mountain Package guarantees that in cases where there is no documentation, they have the right to apply, guaranteeing that they do not have ownership conflicts. The process is transparent, it is followed at the local level. Certain areas in Albania have a more pronounced phenomenon where residents have divided properties based on old ownership. Residents have respected this, but they do not have papers. In these cases, the right to invest in this territory arises. Municipalities determine priority areas. 13 municipalities have determined 69 priority areas. 8 other municipalities are in the process of determining. The process that must be followed to determine priority areas has a mechanical time-consuming process. All municipalities in the country are interested. In each of the 69 priority areas, interested parties apply in e-Albania, the municipality receives the application and the matter passes to the level local. Through this process there will be no conflicts.
"Today there are about 100 cases that will be successfully completed. I believe that we will definitely reach 1000 cases in terms of applicants who have received the property. The first 500 applicants receive fiscal incentives for a 10-year period ," said Demo.
In his speech, Demo emphasized that the government aims to create more sustainable, more transparent municipalities with better quality services for citizens through training, technology and financial support.
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