By DASHNOR KALOÇI
Part Five
Memorie.al / Even though it was the poorest state in Europe and one of the countries with the lowest standard of living in the entire world, the communist regime of Tirana headed by Enver Hoxha and his successor Ramiz Alia, was financing and spending millions of dollars to help Marxist-Leninist Communist Parties, individuals and other left-wing groups from all over the world, granting them funds for travel, airplane tickets, hotel bills, scholarships and study rights, various publications, book translations and political literature, purchase of materials and equipment, visits and vacations in Albania, etc., etc. Created in 1964, under the name “Solidarity Fund” (with Decision No. 190, dated June 10, 1964 of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the PPSh [Party of Labor of Albania]), which bore Enver Hoxha’s signature, through this secret account millions of dollars were allocated and distributed (approximately 12 million USD during the years 1964–1991), to finance and support the parties, movements and Marxist-Leninist communist groups in various countries of the world.
Referring to some archival documents, the distribution map of the “Solidarity Fund” by the top leadership of the PPSh included states from all five continents, starting from the American one: Brazil, Peru, Colombia, the USA, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, etc. In the African continent: Sudan, Somalia, Congo, Congo Leopoldville, Malagasy, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Togo, Upper Volta, Gabon, Egypt, etc.
In the Asian continent: Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Ceylon, Japan, India, Laos, Jordan, Syria, etc. In the continent of Australia–Oceania: Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, etc. In the European continent: France, Italy, Poland, Belgium, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, Holland, Portugal, England, Greece, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Romania, Germany, Yugoslavia, etc.
According to a decision of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the PPSh of 1964, when the “Solidarity Fund” was created, the right to grant funds to Marxist-Leninist communist groups and parties or various individuals “friends of Albania” was held only by the General Secretary of the Party, Enver Hoxha, while after his death in 1985, Ramiz Alia “inherited” it and along with him, also Foto Çami, member of the Politburo and Secretary of the Central Committee for propaganda, art and culture and foreign relations. (At the end of 1990, Spiro Dede, as Secretary of the Central Committee of the PPSh, also dealt with and signed for the Solidarity Fund).
After their decision, the distribution of funds was handled by the head of the Sector for Foreign Relations at the apparatus of the Central Committee of the PPSh, Agim Popa, to whose signature was also attached that of Sabaudin Kodra, head of the Finance sector in the Central Committee and Sadik Piri. (After his retirement in 1988, Flutra Arianiti was appointed).
The “Solidarity Fund” (or as it was otherwise known, “Account 09”) and the entire practice of its distribution was “Top Secret” and about everything related to it, no one else should have knowledge, except the above-mentioned persons and the director of the Bank of the Albanian State, Kamber Myftari, as well as partially the main heads of some of the respective Albanian embassies accredited in various countries of the world, to whom checks were transferred to distribute to certain persons (groups and Marxist-Leninist Communist Parties), according to the decision of the Central Committee of the PPSh.
For the first time about the “Solidarity Fund” was spoken only in 1992, after the fall of the communist regime, where in the framework of investigations into the privileges and financial favors and excessive expenses of the families of the former top leadership of the PPSh (mainly those who had lived in the “Block” in Tirana), the High State Control, at the request of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party, drafted a detailed report with all financial data and balances from 1964 to 1991.
But what remained unclear even after that report, indeed a great enigma that has not been clarified even today after 36 years since the fall of the communist regime, was the origin of that fund?! Neither Ramiz Alia nor his closest collaborators, members of the Politburo and secretaries of the Central Committee, clarified that enigma and did not speak a single word during their investigative and judicial process, as well as the serving of the prison sentence in the years 1993-1997.
But after the 1990s, some former officials and functionaries of the communist regime have stated in various media interviews that that fund was granted to the Central Committee of the PPSh by the Communist Party of China, since the beginning of the 1960s, and “not a single penny” was in that fund from the state budget or other financial sources. This version about the origin of the “Solidarity Fund” may to some extent have some truth, since in one of the archival documents that we will publish in this article, in January 1991, when that fund was finally closed, Ramiz Alia, among other things, wrote: “The new law on elections does not allow financing from abroad, therefore there may be noise…”
Nevertheless, the above remains to be further investigated in the archival documents of the former Central Committee of the PPSh, since as we will see from some documents that we will publish in this series of articles about the “Solidarity Fund,” even though the destination of that fund was for “Marxist-Leninist groups, parties” or “friends of Albania,” it has also been touched for other purposes, such as the purchase of a printing press for the newspaper “Zëri i Popullit,” the Palace of Congresses, etc., or have been deposited in foreign banks, such as in France, etc., for the purpose of receiving bank interest. For more about this etc., these archival documents which have been extracted from the Central State Archive (fund of the former Central Committee of the PPSh), which are published for the first time and with the respective facsimiles by Memorie.al, inform us.
Continues from the previous issue
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT WITH THE DECISION OF THE SECRETARIAT OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE PPSh, SIGNED BY RAMIZ ALIA, ON THE USE OF THE SOLIDARITY FUND DURING 1991
PARTY OF LABOR OF ALBANIA Top Secret
SECRETARIAT OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
“Proletarians of all countries unite”!
D E C I S I O N
No. 17 Date 17.2.1990
ON THE USE OF THE SOLIDARITY FUND DURING THE YEAR 1990 FOR MARXIST-LENINIST PARTIES AND MOVEMENTS
The Secretariat of the Central Committee of the PPSh, on the date 17.2.1990,
D e c i d e d:
I. From the Solidarity Fund at the disposal of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the PPSh, for the year 1990, a sum of 20,000 dollars shall be made available for the needs of Marxist-Leninist parties. The Secretary of the Central Committee is authorized to use this sum, judging concretely the possible requests from Marxist-Leninist parties.
II. For travel expenses and per diems for the delegations of m-l parties and friends invited by the Central Committee of the PPSh, 45,000 dollars shall be made available.
III. For propaganda activities related to m-l parties and friends of the Party abroad, 10,000 dollars shall be made available.
IV. The implementation of this decision is entrusted to the foreign sector of the Central Committee of the PPSh.
FIRST SECRETARY OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
OF THE PARTY OF LABOR OF ALBANIA
RAMIZ ALIA
No. 1009 Prot. Date 18.2.1990
TO THE FOREIGN SECTOR
H E R E
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT WITH THE DECISION OF THE SECRETARIAT OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE PPSh, SIGNED BY RAMIZ ALIA, ON THE USE OF THE SOLIDARITY FUND DURING DECEMBER 1991
PARTY OF LABOR OF ALBANIA — S e c r e t
SECRETARIAT OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
“Proletarians of all countries unite”!
D E C I S I O N
No. 104 Date 10.12.1990
ON SOME EXPENSES FROM THE SOLIDARITY FUND
The Secretariat of the Central Committee of the PPSh, on the date 10.12.1990,
D e c i d e d:
- In the framework of expenses for propaganda, from the Solidarity Fund a sum of 400,000 (four hundred thousand) dollars shall be made available to the editorial office of the newspaper “Zëri i Popullit” for the purchase of a printing press from the firm New Concept Printing and Publishing Service Ltd. Of these, 150,000 shall be liquidated in December 1990.
- The implementation of this decision is entrusted to the Foreign Sector of the Central Committee of the PPSh.
FIRST SECRETARY OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
OF THE PARTY OF LABOR OF ALBANIA
RAMIZ ALIA
No. 3722 Prot. Date 10.12.1990
TO THE FOREIGN SECTOR
H e r e
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT WITH THE REPORT-INFORMATION OF THE SECTOR OF FOREIGN RELATIONS IN THE APPARATUS OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE PPSh, ON THE STATE OF THE SOLIDARITY FUND, JANUARY 1991
Top Secret
RELATED TO THE STATE OF THE SOLIDARITY FUND
The practice of using the Solidarity Fund
The Solidarity Fund is at the disposal of the PPSh for these purposes: for financial assistance to parties and organizations with which it maintains relations; for travel and accommodation expenses of delegations and friends invited by the Central Committee; for propaganda activities of our Party with the outside world; for other activities decided by the Secretariat of the Central Committee.
At the beginning of each year, an information on the use of this Fund during the past year and proposals for the coming year is presented to the Secretariat of the Central Committee. On this basis, a decision of the Secretariat of the Central Committee is issued on the use of the Fund during this year.
The implementation of the decisions of the Secretariat of the Central Committee for the administration of the Solidarity Fund is usually entrusted to the Foreign Sector. Some financial operations, which are determined in the decision of the Secretariat of the Central Committee, are authorized only by the Secretary of the Central Committee; the others are carried out with the authorization of the head of the Foreign Sector.
By decision of the Secretariat of the Central Committee, a comrade from the Foreign Sector has been designated as the first signatory for the administration of the Fund, while a comrade from the Sector of Services and Finance of the Apparatus of the Central Committee as the second signatory.
State of the Solidarity Fund
The state at the end of 1989 was 3,000,000 dollars. The expenses foreseen in the decision of the Secretariat for the year 1990 are 75,000 dollars (the balance of expenses usually ends at the beginning of February). As is known, from this state the transfer this year of 150,000 dollars has been authorized in the framework of a total expense of 400,000 dollars for the printing press “Zëri i Popullit.”
An issue that has remained open
In certain situations, with the approval of the Party leadership, some withdrawals have been made from the Solidarity Fund to help the economy. By the respective decisions of the Council of Ministers, in 1983 the sum of 4 million dollars was withdrawn, with a repayment deadline of 2 million dollars in 1984 and another 2 million in 1985.
The return of this sum has been postponed from year to year. At the beginning of 1989, the State Bank, with the authorization of the Council of Ministers, announced that the sum of 4 million dollars would be returned in 1989 (1.5 million) and in 1990 (2.5 million dollars). For 1989 the above-mentioned sum was not returned; we still have no data for 1990.
During this period we have not benefited from the bank interest for the above-mentioned sum. According to our calculations, this lost interest exceeds the sum of 4 million dollars, which would have been added to the fund. There have also been other withdrawals from the Fund, which have been returned, as well as a withdrawal of 407,051 dollars placed at the disposal of the Ministry of Industry and Mines (Decision of the Council of Ministers 473, dated 23.12.1988) with a repayment deadline at the end of 1990. From such withdrawals too, we do not benefit from the respective interest.
We think that for the path of solving these backlogged problems, a decision should be taken by the leadership.
The position of the Solidarity Fund in the new situation.
We think that in the new situation the Solidarity Fund should remain at the disposal of the Secretariat of the Central Committee to finance activities related to the foreign relations of the Party. Despite the top secret character of the Solidarity Fund, in the Bank it is known as a fund at the disposal of the Central Committee of the PPSh.
We think it is necessary to have prepared by specialists a legal formulation of the origin and existence of this Fund. As is known, the decree on the creation of political organizations and associations prohibits the direct or indirect receipt of financial aid from abroad; therefore, although this Fund has its origin many years ago, some effort to make noise is not excluded.
Last year, to the Solidarity Fund was added the Fund of 84,000 dollars, left by testament to the PPSh by the American friend, Homogjene Imogene. From this Fund, 20,000 dollars have been spent so far.
We think that now, with the issuance of the decree on the creation of political organizations and associations, the remaining part should be withdrawn from the Bank and this Fund should be considered consumed.
Foreign Sector
7.1.1991
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT WITH THE DRAFT DECISION OF THE SECRETARIAT OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE PPSh, SIGNED BY SPIRO DEDE, ON THE USE OF THE SOLIDARITY FUND DURING THE YEAR 1991
PARTY OF LABOR OF ALBANIA
SECRETARIAT OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
Draft – Decision
On the use of the Solidarity Fund during the year 1991
The Secretariat of the Central Committee of the PPSh,
D e c i d e d:
I. From the Solidarity Fund at the disposal of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the PPSh, for the year 1991, the sum of 45,000 dollars shall be used for travel expenses and per diems for the delegations and friends invited by the Central Committee of the PPSh.
II. For the needs of foreign parties and friends with whom the PPSh maintains relations, the Secretary of the Central Committee is authorized to use a sum of 10,000 dollars, judging concretely for special cases.
III. For the propaganda activity related to foreign parties and friends with whom the PPSh maintains relations, 10,000 dollars shall be made available.
IV. The implementation of this decision is entrusted to the Foreign Sector of the CC of the PPSh. / Memorie.al
SECRETARY OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
Spiro Dede
