Zhupa: Kumbaro's husband received royalties from AADF when the law on Inheritance was being drafted

The Chairwoman of the Committee on Culture, Tourism and Diaspora, Ina Zhupa, has raised questions about the relationship between former Minister of Culture, Mirela Kumbaro, and the Albanian-American Development Foundation (AADF), linking them to the process of drafting the Law on Cultural Heritage.

In a public reaction, Zhupa refers to data made public by the Democratic Party's Anti-Corruption Office, according to which Kumbaro's husband, Aleksandër Furxhi, received royalties from AADF during the period when Kumbaro headed the Ministry of Culture and when the law was being drafted.

The Democratic MP is demanding transparency on the nature of these payments and whether the Kumbaro-Furxhi family has had other benefits from the foundation that have not been made public.

REACTION:

Was the Law on Cultural Heritage drafted in the interest of the AADF since the husband of Minister Mirela Kumbaro received royalties from the same foundation?

Did the Kumbaro-Furxhi family receive other royalties or other undeclared benefits from AADF?

It is now public that Mirela Kumbaro's husband received royalties from AADF, while Mirela Kumbaro, as a minister, handed over and continues to hand over national assets and public institutions to AADF with concessions. One hand washes the other and both steal from Albanians!

I have always denounced the Mirela Kumbaro-AADF binomial, because it has been clear that they were working for the interest of the AADF and not for the public interest and the protection of national wealth. You can hear part of this history in this speech in the Assembly.

The DP's Anti-Corruption Office has made public a fact that raises extraordinary questions: Mirela Kumbaro's husband, Aleksandër Furxhi, turns out to have benefited from royalties from AADF, during the period when Mirela Kumbaro was Minister of Culture and when the Law on Cultural Heritage was drafted.

A law that was made like a custom-made suit, subsequently creating the path for the surrender of Butrint. Today, Albanians are paying the consequences of a unique and unacceptable model: the concessionary administration of a national asset, a world heritage protected by UNESCO.

This is why citizens have been protesting for 94 days. Against a model where public property is treated as private property and laws are written to empower the same beneficiaries and profits are shared jointly at the expense of Albanians.