The Balkan Countries - Albania - Introduction

In 1988, Albania's centrally planned economy continued to decline. The country's officially published yearend economic report did not contain concrete results such as the growth of national income or industrial output. 2 The shortfall for central budget earnings for 1988 amounted to 9% below the planned target. Losses in industry were attributed to poor management and organization, as well as to low technical standards and excessive consumption of fuels and raw materials. The construction, energy, and mining sectors of industry did not meet their annual production plans. As in 1987, within these sectors, the chromite and petroleum extracting and processing industries continued to lag in output. Both chromite and petroleum remained Albania's chief sources of foreign exchange; the production downturn of these commodities continued to negatively affect the country's foreign trade position, especially in view of constitutional prohibitions against using foreign credit to finance trade. The chief events in the minerals industry in 1988 included the construction startup of the first of four planned new concentrators at the Bulquize chromite mine, as well as the construction startup of new ferrochromium capacities at Elbasan. Also, the copper mining industry reported the completion of facility expansion at the Perlat mine in the Mid-rite district. Albania began new facility construction at the Dinamo heavy-equipment enterprise at Tirana to maximize self-sufficiency in mining equipment production. Upon completion, the new factory would double the out-put of mining equipment at the enterprise and would introduce new designs for electric trucks and pneumatic drills for the mining industry. The new facility would also increase the production of new machinery and equipment for the country's beneficiation plants.