The Action against Economic Crime in Albania jointly with the High Inspectorate of Declaration and Audit of Assets and Conflict of Interests (HIDAACI) organized cascade training sessions on 15-17 March 2023, to consolidate the experience of the public officials on legal competences and technical skills for the successful finalization of the declaration process of elected subjects and high public officials, obliged to declare their private interests. The trainings advanced the knowledge and skills of 360 public officials responsible for managing the private interests’ declaration on effective functioning of the electronic system on assets and conflict of interests’ declaration. 

The electronic asset declaration system, a major development implemented with the support of the European Union, Council of Europe and USAID, constitutes an important corruption prevention mechanism. This system became functional in October 2022, and it ensured a simplified process of assets and conflict of interests’ declaration by the declaring subjects. In a short run, this system will increase data processing electronically, their exchange with other law enforcement agencies and the effectiveness of HIDAACI’s controls and administrative investigations of corruption. 

The responsible public officials have a crucial role in ensuring the effective functioning of the electronic system of private interests’ declaration, by providing assistance and facilitating the process of assets declarations of the elected representatives and high public officials. As a result, these training sessions served to address main challenges faced during the first electronic declaration process and to provide guidance through legal and technical information how to solve these shortcomings by unifying the best practices.

The Action against Economic Crime in Albania is part of the “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye III”, a joint programme of the European Union and Council of Europe, which aims at assisting Beneficiaries in the Western Balkans region and Türkiye to comply with the Council of Europe standards and European Union acquis in the framework of the enlargement process, when relevant.