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Special report
The lek has gained sharply against the euro. The Bank of Albania and the IMF say the cause is the economy itself: tourism, money sent home from abroad and foreign investment. Critics and some economists say informal money, including the proceeds of drug trafficking laundered through construction and property, also plays a part. This page sets out what each side says and what the evidence shows. A claim that drug money drives the exchange rate is a claim, not a finding.
Official explanations and the Bank's own actions.
Who: bank-of-albania (Governor Gent Sejko, as reported)
As reported in a Shqiptarja piece, the Bank of Albania says the depreciation of foreign currencies against the lek comes from high foreign-currency inflows from tourism, foreign investment and remittances. The governor reportedly said the lek's strength helps keep inflation under control and the bank would not intervene in the market while Albania keeps a free exchange-rate regime. Paraphrase from a search-result summary; the article is undated in the snippet (it refers to 4 October 'this year').
Source: Shqiptarja · unknown
Who: edi-rama (Prime Minister)
Reported response (interview with the Financial Times, as summarised by Albanian Daily News; the interview date was not confirmed): Rama rejected the 'Godfather' label and said the economy is not built on laundering. He said laundering exists but is a limited problem, and that the investors in the project are not criminals. He compared it to London. He said opposition to the project was instigated by political opponents of US President Donald Trump. These are denials; the claims they answer are contested.
Source: Albanian Daily News · unknown
Who: erion-veliaj (Mayor of Tirana, as headline)
Headline only: about half of the money used to buy property in Tirana comes from the banking system, the rest from emigrants and foreigners. Critics dispute the origin of the rest. Date and full text not retrieved.
Source: Shqiptarja · unknown
Who: delina-ibrahimaj (Minister of Economy and Innovation)
As reported (search summary; the Gazeta Tema page returned HTTP 403), the minister rejected claims that drug money is behind the lek's strength. She cited official figures: about EUR 8.5bn inflows, including EUR 5.72bn from tourism, EUR 1.64bn foreign investment and EUR 1.12bn remittances, which she said are recorded in official statistics. She called the drug-money argument unfounded. Her critic was former deputy finance minister Irena Beqiraj.
Source: Gazeta Tema · Jul 2026
Who: bank-of-albania
As reported (search summary of Gazeta Tema and Albanian Daily News), the Bank bought EUR 139.6m in Q1 2026 (EUR 44.1m through three auctions, EUR 95.5m through four direct purchases). The Bank said these operations were to build reserves and limit sharp market swings, not to set the exchange rate. Paraphrase; the Bank's own wording was not fetched.
Source: Gazeta Tema · Apr 2026
Who: afiu (Albanian Financial Intelligence Agency), 2025 annual report
As reported in media coverage (report itself not located): the AFIU 2025 report identifies seven main laundering typologies, including international transfers and investments in real estate with unknown or unjustified sources. It cites purchases suspected of involving a person with a drug-trafficking record and investments by a former official convicted of corruption. A search summary also paraphrases the report as saying money of unclear origin in construction, property, cash and companies persists.
Source: Telegrafi · 2026
Who: spak (chief prosecutor Altin Dumani, as quoted by Citizens.al)
Quoted by Citizens.al: SPAK seized EUR 6m in cash 'this year' (2024). The article gives no link of that cash to construction. Official statement via press quote; not fetched from SPAK.
Source: Citizens.al · 24 Mar 2025
Who: bank-of-albania (Governor Gent Sejko)
Paraphrase (not a fetched quote): the governor reportedly said exchange-rate fluctuations were within the target and that the bank had not seen macroeconomic imbalances from the impact of drug proceeds up to that time. This is the only Bank of Albania statement found that addresses drug proceeds directly. It is from 2017, so it is dated context and does not address the 2024-2026 appreciation. The source article was not identified precisely in the search summary.
Source: Abnase (search summary) · 2017
The IMF, the European Commission, FATF and MONEYVAL, and the US State Department.
Who: moneyval (Council of Europe)
Search-result summary: MONEYVAL assessors made an on-site visit to Albania from 14 to 24 April 2026 for the sixth-round mutual evaluation, with adoption planned at the December 2026 plenary. The MONEYVAL page itself returned HTTP 403, so these dates are not verified. The latest Albania follow-up report found in this run is from 2023.
Source: Council of Europe / MONEYVAL · Apr 2026
Who: imf (2025 Article IV consultation, Executive Board conclusions)
Fetched text: 'sustained exchange rate appreciation is largely driven by fundamentals'; the IMF advises that FX purchases be limited 'to addressing non-fundamental fluctuations' and that the exchange rate be allowed greater flexibility, with interest rates used for price stability. Growth is described as 'primarily driven by private consumption and a booming tourism sector'. The press release does not mention informal inflows, money laundering or illicit flows.
Source: International Monetary Fund · 23 Dec 2025
Who: imf (Selected Issues paper on FX intervention, Albania)
Search-result summary (not fetched): staff estimated cumulative appreciation from risk shocks since 2021 at around 11 percent and concluded conventional interest-rate policy is the generally appropriate tool. Pass-through to inflation was about 0.2 percent for a 1 percent appreciation over four quarters. FX intervention in the first nine months of 2024 was 2.6 percent of 2023 nominal GDP, almost triple the same period of 2023. The paper links the appreciation to the tourism boom.
Source: International Monetary Fund · 15 Apr 2025
Who: us-state-department (INCSR 2025, as quoted by Citizens.al)
Quoted by Citizens.al (24 Mar 2025): criminals launder proceeds through 'real estate purchases, construction projects, virtual assets and business development'. The Citizens.al article gives no dollar or euro figure for construction laundering. The INCSR 2025 Albania chapter itself was not located or fetched in this run.
Source: Citizens.al · 24 Mar 2025
Who: imf (2024 Article IV, Executive Board)
Search-result summary: directors urged that the exchange rate be allowed to adjust more flexibly, with intervention as a complementary tool. Not fetched; wording paraphrased.
Source: International Monetary Fund · 24 Jan 2025
Who: fatf
Albania was on the FATF grey list from February 2020 and was still listed in the June 2023 update. It was removed at the FATF plenary ending 27 October 2023 after an on-site visit, when Albania was confirmed as having met its action points. The European Commission warned that a future VTC law must meet FATF standards, and FATF said it would monitor the VTC programme. The FATF pages returned HTTP 403, so these dates come from secondary summaries (amluae.com, faktoje.al, Basel AML Index).
Source: AMLUAE (summary of FATF plenary outcome) · 27 Oct 2023
Who: us-state-department (INCSR, 2020 edition, as summarised by exit.al)
Summaries describe Albania as a 'major money laundering destination' and state the government made 'no significant progress toward thwarting money laundering and financial crimes in 2020'. Real estate investments and business development projects are described as the most prevalent laundering methods. These are quotes inside a news summary, not fetched from the State Department.
Source: exit.al · 2020
Who: moneyval (earlier evaluation of Albania, as summarised in search results)
Paraphrase (not fetched): an earlier MONEYVAL evaluation found illicit profits from narcotics trafficking, tax crimes, smuggling and corruption create the largest demand for money laundering in Albania. A separate MONEYVAL summary reports that gambling and real estate are the most fertile sectors for money laundering, and that investigations rarely lead to indictments. The real-estate statements came through secondary summaries.
Source: OCCRP (summary of Council of Europe findings) · 2018
Economists, think tanks and investigative journalists, with their evidence and its limits.
Who: balcanicaucaso (OBCT), author Arbjona Cibuku
Fetched text: 'Suspicions that the construction and real estate sectors may be used for money laundering are not new.' The article asks 'who is financing this transformation'. Evidence cited: at least 139 tower projects approved by the National Council of Territory and Water over a decade (author's own analysis for Citizens.al); about 5.8 million square metres allocated for coastal projects under the Strategic Investment Law (Citizens.al 2023); an MCN TV electricity analysis finding many new Tirana towers largely unoccupied; SPAK asset seizures without amounts; the 'Aruba Corporation' case. Counter-arguments acknowledged: the government presents the boom as growth; investigations are ongoing and 'criminal responsibility has yet to be established in court'; for the MCN finding the article says there is 'no evidence of illegal practices'. The article gives no amounts for seized assets or criminal proceeds.
Source: Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa · 22 Jul 2026
Who: irena-beqiraj (former deputy finance minister, as described in search summaries)
Argument as summarised (search result, not fetched): the government counts money entering the country without adequately subtracting money leaving it. Beqiraj questioned the sources of foreign-currency inflows and whether they explain the lek's strength. The minister replied that the figures are unfounded. Her own figures were not retrieved.
Source: Gazeta Tema · Jul 2026
Who: altax (Tirana tax and advisory firm, policy paper; author not named)
Fetched text: the lek has appreciated 'despite a weak trade position', and the paper says the appreciation 'has not been driven by sustained growth in industrial exports or improvements in global competitiveness'. It names tourism, remittances and real-estate FDI as causes and says a considerable portion of remittances and some property investments move in cash or outside banking channels, adding volatility. It does not mention money laundering or illicit origins. Several figures in the paper (informal flows up to USD 4-5bn; 30-40% informal remittances, citing a World Bank migration survey) are given without a checked source. Publication date not stated; the cover image is from April 2026.
Source: ALTAX · Apr 2026
Who: shqiptarja (editorial, 'Redaksia')
Fetched text: the Bank bought about EUR 1bn in 2025 (a record) to stabilise the euro and build reserves, and the article says this was 'again unsuccessful in stabilizing the exchange rate'. The euro closed 2025 at 96.5 lek, down from 98.3 in 2024, and March 2026 averaged about 96. The article says 'the euro's position against the lek weakened further'. This is newspaper reporting, not a Bank statement.
Source: Shqiptarja · 31 Mar 2026
Who: economist Gjokutaj (named in Shqiptarja article)
Quoted in search summary of Shqiptarja: 'shqetesim mbetet pastrimi i parave qe po ndikon ne uljen e nivelit te euros' (money laundering remains a concern affecting the fall in the euro's level). He argued that the central bank should increase controls on commercial banks and said cryptocurrencies are being used for laundering in countries such as Albania. Date within 2026 but not pinned in the snippet. No figures given.
Source: Shqiptarja · 2026
Who: economist Radonshiqi (named in Shqiptarja article)
Search summary: 'a large part of the euro circulating in the country is informal and cannot be controlled by the government'. She said construction and foreign property investment brought in large euro amounts, with laundering remaining a concern in that sector. The article links December's high remittance and tourist inflows to the euro's movement. Undated in snippet.
Source: Shqiptarja · 2026
Who: friedrich-ebert-stiftung Tirana (author Adriatik Kotorri)
Study title 'Money laundering in the real estate sector: its impact on socio-economic life in Albania' (Albanian: 'Pastrimi i parave ne sektorin e pasurive te paluajtshme'). Press coverage says the study covers 2015-2024 and identifies construction as one of the primary channels for proceeds of organised crime and corruption entering the formal economy. Telegrafi's summary adds cash undervaluation in contracts, a legal vacuum, lack of buyer guarantees, and real estate agents as intermediaries. Full text not read; the permit and market-value figures are press figures and are not verified.
Source: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung · Sep 2025
Who: global-initiative (Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime), via Intellinews
Estimate: about EUR 500m was laundered through Albania's real estate sector in 2019, based on mortgage loan data, per Intellinews reporting on the GI report on illicit financial flows in Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia. A GI-based figure of up to EUR 1.6bn for 2017-2019 is cited by other outlets. The original GI PDF was not located, and the Intellinews URL date code (July 2019) does not clearly match a full-year figure. Estimate, not an audited total.
Source: bne IntelliNews · 2019
Claims by politicians. Each is the speaker's claim, with any response found.
Who: lulzim-basha (PD, as headline)
Headline only: Basha says the government's USD 1 billion public investment project will launder dirty money. Date and text not retrieved.
Source: Top Channel · unknown
Who: Ina Zhupa, Democratic Party MP (interview on Syri TV)
In a Syri TV interview reported by Syri.net, Zhupa said the Bank of Albania governor was given immunity through the new Bank of Albania law, calling it a precedent and an alibi for the narco-euro entering the economy. She said drug-trafficking money entered through money laundering and that this caused the euro to fall and the lek to strengthen. The article gives no evidence or data for these claims and carries no response from the Bank, the government or the majority.
Source: Syri.net · 29 Oct 2026
Who: sali-berisha (PD leader)
Balkanweb headline only (page body not readable): Berisha says the lek has become a narcotics currency and that Albania is a laundromat for drug money. Earlier undated remarks in search summaries: Albania under Rama is a narco-state more than any other country; euro and dollar devaluation in Albania is greater than elsewhere in the world. These are party-leader allegations, not findings.
Who: ina-zhupa (PD MP, speaking in the Kuvendi)
Fetched text: speaking in the Assembly, Zhupa said 'the narco-state has its own structured group' with 'the drug kingpin, Edi Rama, at the top', that 'it is more painful when the state becomes a narco-state', and called for a transitional government. The article contains no mention of euro, lek or money laundering. The 'narco-euro' claim dated 29 Oct 2026 attributed to her in the brief was not found.
Source: Balkanweb · 24 Sep 2026
Who: jorida-tabaku (PD MP at the time)
Fetched text (translated by the research tool, Albanian quoted): 'The euro's lowest historical level does not come from a growing economy' and 'rather, it comes from dirty money generated by drug trafficking'. She said this money 'harms honest business and artificially devalues the euro'. The article cites no figures attributed to her. This is the explicit euro-and-drug-money statement found in this run; it is from 2018, not 2026.
Source: Shqiptarja · 11 May 2018