Dashnor Kaloçi
Memorie.al publishes some historical documents from the fund of the former Central Committee of the ALP and the personal fund of Enver Hoxha, where it is about a conversation that Enver had on February 3, 1975 with Abdyl Këllez in one of the premises of “Party House” in the leadership Block, where Hysni Kapo and Pilo Peristeri were also present. The entire conversation held between them, where Enveri held Këllez accountable for the high-ranking staff and personnel working in the Oil sector, from the Institute of Study and Design, to the General Directorate, such as Lipe Nashi, Beqir Alia, Koço Plaku, Ramiz Xhabija, etc., all of whom Enveri has passed “through the sieve”, even mentioning the Russian ex-wife of Beqir Ali, as well as Panajot Plaku, the brother of the well-known engineer Koço Plaku, whom Këllezi defended himself by saying that he was one of the best geologists and that he had discovered an oil field!
How did Enver keep secret from Avdyli the letter sent to him by a worker from the Oil sector, where, among other things, he told him that there were major sabotages and the intervention of Pilo Peristeri during the conversation, reinforcing to Enver what he thought, that ” in Nafta there was hostile work…”!
All of Enver’s notes dated February 3, 1975, where he based on the minutes of the meetings that had taken place in the Oil sector which had been made available to him after the letter sent by a guard, where he wrote that in that sector he had “sabotages and hostile work”, he has done “technical-scientific analysis” accusing all leaders….?!
After the attack on the so-called “Hostile Group in Art and Culture” led by Todi Lubonjen and Fadil Paçrami and the “Punchist Group in the Army” led by Beqir Balluku, Petrit Dumen and Hito Çakon, in the years 1974-’75, a few months later later, in the middle of 1975, Enveri Hoxha “discovered” the “Saboteur Group in Economy” headed by Abdyl Këllez, Koço Theodhosin, Kiço Ngjelë and Vasil Kati, where with the exception of the latter two (Ngjëlë and Kati) who suffered in prison until 1991, all the others were shot, accusing them “as enemies of the people, traitors and saboteurs”! These things are already well known because from the beginning of the 90s and following, among others, many unknown documents have been published that shed light on the paranoia of Enver Hoxha and the innocence of all his associates that he hit and eliminated them physically. According to some archival documents and also many testimonies of people who had direct work relationships or their family members. One of the most confused and tragic stories of all the so-called “Hostile Groups” undoubtedly remain that of the “Economy”, whose genesis was the Oil sector. Something which is confirmed by many archival documents and also many testimonies of people who had direct work relationships or their family members who were executed as “enemies and saboteurs”?! Thus, since the beginning of 1975, Enveri had charged Haki Toska, Abdyl Këllez, Adil Çarçan and Koço Theodhos for the problems of the Oil sector, who after participating in several meetings in the city of Patos (where the Directorate was of General Oil at that time), Adil Çarçani and Haki Toska went to the main meeting in Fier as delegates, and after its end they reported to the senior leadership about “the problems that the sector had and the tasks left to improve the situation “, and thus it was considered a “closed problem”. But it seems that he did not like a worker, a former specialist in the Oil sector, who, after receiving disability benefits, was sent to work in a light job, as a night watchman, in one of the offices of that enterprise. Based on the extreme indoctrination, as well as inspired by the “lessons of the Party and Comrade Enver”, especially where there was talk of the “voice of the mass”, he pushed the clocks for several nights in a row under the dim light of the lamp in the guard’s hut of the night until dawn, writing a long letter addressed personally to “comrade Enver”. Where he informed them and “argued them on scientific grounds” regarding the “mistakes, sabotage and hostile work” that had been done in the Oil sector.
But this letter of his, which reached Enver’s hand (like all the letters sent to his address), turned out to be fatal, as Enver returned to the problem of Nafta, considering everything he had written to be true that worker who worked as a night watchman.
And with that letter in his pocket, which he considered to be a very big discovery, he called or talked casually with Këllez and Theodhos, who then went to the bullet, boasting that “all hostile groups had been discovered by the Party “. Something that Enver admits himself, writing in one of his diaries dated February 3, 1975, which Memorie.al publishes in the previous issue.
While in this article, we are publishing all of Enver’s notes that he kept in his diary that belongs to February 3, 1975, where based on all the minutes of the meetings that had taken place up to that time in the Oil sector, he has made “technical-scientific analyses” and based on them has severely criticized the main leaders of that sector, such as Pirro Gusho, Lipe, Nashi, Beqir Aliaj, Protoko Murati, Milto Gjikopulli, etc., accusing them of being “saboteurs who their actions had prevented the realization of the oil extraction and production plan”?! And based on these notes kept by him, they were then arrested, where some were sentenced to death by firing squad, some committed suicide and others suffered in the prisons of the communist regime until 1991. Regarding this and others, we know the following article that Memorie.al has extracted from the archival documents of the fund of the former Central Committee of the ALP.
Follows from the previous issue
Enver Hoxha’s notes on the “problems” in the Oil sector
February 3, 1975
From reading a protocol of the oil and gas research activity and from the conversations I have had with some friends about the non-realizations that have been created in this sector, I would like to raise some very serious and acute problems that arise in this matter. The 6th Party Congress, as is known, has set the task that, in addition to further intensifying the extraction of oil from existing fields, to secure new oil and gas fields, focusing a lot of attention on drilling-research and works geophysical, in order to reach and exceed the calculated reserves.
The implementation of this very important task set by the Party Congress would bring about the fulfillment of the tasks of this five-year plan and at the same time serve to further strengthen the fuel base in the next five years. This task that Congress set, like all other tasks, was completely feasible, because it relied on the already proven oil-bearing capabilities of our subsoil, on a powerful material and technical base created in this sector of the industry, on the large investments , in raising to a higher quality level the research works for oil and gas and especially the structures that would make up the drilling facilities, as well as in the preparation of new cadres, in the conscious selfless work and in the many years of experience of the cadres and all other employees of this sector.
Having set these real and mobilizing tasks in the oil and gas sector, the Party asked oilmen, technicians, engineers and oil management cadres to focus their attention on organizing and establishing a strict scientific and technical discipline at work, acquire and practice the most advanced methods in oil and gas exploration, further increase their qualification and use as effectively as possible the many tools that have been given and will be given to them for use. The Oil Institute, which was supposed to lead the research and scientific work for the discovery of new oil and gas reserves, as we know, has not performed the assigned task. During the four years of this five-year period, he has not achieved results. The situation created in the discovery of new oil and gas reserves is very serious. Of the non-realizations in our economy, the most important is that of oil, from which we are created very big disorders. This situation has created difficulties for us to achieve certain objectives for oil extraction even during the next five years. It is too much to talk about the vital importance that oil has, especially for our country. Today, it has become a world problem and a general war can break out over it. Imperialist states have waged wars to possess basins rich in this first strategic interest. “Don’t touch the oil zone, Anton Idenit once warned Khrushchev, otherwise there will be war tomorrow”.
And, in fact, today a fierce war is being waged among the imperialists for this purpose. The non-fulfillment of the tasks for oil and gas reserves in our country in today’s conditions of the exacerbation of the world energy crisis and the intensification of the class war on an international scale, means slowing down the pace of rapid and intensive development of the national economy, weakening of the sharp weapon of oil, which serves as one of the most important raw materials for independent political and economic development. We must be vigilant in this matter, because the enemy attacks in two important directions: firstly, he aims to hit the Party and then our army and economy and above all sectors such as oil, so in these directions we must to walk very carefully. The Party and the Government, studying the current situation, will determine, of course, the most appropriate ways to correct it, but before doing so, the true state of things in the oil and gas industry must be well known.
Regarding this situation, I would like to express now my thoughts formed especially from the reading of the protocol held in November of last year in the oil and gas research activity. I think that the leaders of the Oil Institute, the General Directorate of Oil and even some cadres of the Ministry of Industry and Mines have not dealt with these disturbing problems politically, they have not been guided by the duties of the 6th Party Congress, by the materials of the 4th Plenum of the Party Central Committee and from the occasional directives of the Political Bureau on oil. The leaders of the Oil Institute and the General Directorate of Oil have taken the tasks set by the Party forums, they have even mentioned in words that “we put politics first”, but in practice they have not acted so. Otherwise, they have no way to explain even those mistakes and faults accepted by them, a part of which I will mention below. To try to justify the flaws, or to hide these flaws, as has been done by some cadres in the active exploration of oil and gas, this, at least, means to put politics in the plan of last.
The party teaches us that strong reliance on the masses is the main factor to withstand the imperialist-revisionist blockade and to successfully implement economic plans. But the Oil Institute and the General Directorate of Oil have flagrantly violated the important principle of implementing the line of measures. Not only the opinion of the workers and technicians, but also that of the geologists was not taken there, because even the controversial problems were decided only by the “oil popes”, who were “impatient” to explain the problems well, to beat and square the opposing opinions to scientifically interpret the factual materials, to set the drilling points with reason and not arbitrarily, etc.
Answering the questions that were asked to him about the proven non-realizations, the director of the Oil Institute, Beqir Aliaj, among others, said: “I, Protoko Murati and Koço must be patient in listening to the discussions of to others”, while Koço Plaku has admitted that “Most often I entered the debate myself, without involving the collective, the mass of employees”. Of course, the collective opinion could not be withdrawn as long as Protoko Murati, Koço Plaku, Beqir Aliaj and others had their own goals and liked to hear the bombastic phrases of some engineer, who designed wells outside the structure, rather than the creative thought of oilmen. But why does this happen there? Didn’t the cadres, who were entrusted to run the oil sector, know that for the benefit of the work they had to attract the opinion of geologists and oil workers?
There is no one in Albania who does not know that the implementation of the line of measures lies at the foundation of our Party’s policy, so they also know this. It is interesting to know that, before the asset was collected, the report given by the director of the institute had a wide consultation with most of the petroleum geologists, who analyzed the weaknesses of the work and gave their opinions on overcoming of obstacles, but the director didn’t take them into account, he just added a little something and paraphrased the thoughts he had in his head. How far is his attitude and that of the comrades who follow him in these actions, from the great lesson of the Party, according to which: the cadres should learn the masses and learn from them, being at the same time both wise teachers and diligent students!
In the Oil Institute, the experience of geologists and the mass of oil workers has not been taken into account, because there they have strongly hindered such sick manifestations, such as: intellectualism, technocratism, bureaucratism, arrogance and prepotence of the leaders. The Party organization in the oil sector, it seems, has not understood these risks. I was badly impressed by the discussion held by a certain Milto Gjikopulli, who, instead of finding out the causes of weaknesses and making self-criticism for his very big mistakes at work, “philosophized” with pompous and bookish phrases, mentioning that “the particular and the general are relative”, that “the essence is not exactly an appearance”, that “the research strategy was right, but the tactic was wrong”, etc.
The discussion of this “philosopher” and “strategist”, who together with his friends have put a pickaxe on the prospect of oil, was cloudy and dark. To me his intention does not seem honest at all. I got the impression that this talker, if I’m not mistaken, resembles those Soviet sabotaging “specialists” who spoke to us with big “philosophical” words, but on the other hand wanted to pull out our eyes. The arrogance of the oil executives reaches the point where, when someone takes a critical attitude towards their work, they are sewn up and followed like inquisitors. In one case it had reached the point where Koço the Elder had ordered: “Burn the report in the fire!” This is how far the arrogance of this man had reached, who, if he had the chance, would throw not only the papers, but also the people into the fire. He doesn’t even answer the questions that are asked about the situation created, but he wants to throw ashes in our eyes, saying that you supposedly have a dead conscience for the failures they have caused!
Not even Beqir Aliaj had answered all the questions addressed to him. Even the few questions that he was worthy of answering, he had passed by, not talking about the prospects of discovering oil deposits. The Party organization of the institute is dominated by intellectuals: geologists, engineers and some technicians. These intellectuals are indeed members of the party, but in the characteristics of many of them you will not read the words: massovic, popular, etc., which are characteristics especially of communists, but “arrogant”, “prepotent”. The worst thing is that they act like this, calling themselves cadres of the Party. These words say: “We belong to the Party”, but with the concepts they maintain and the work they have done, they are not like that. In the Petroleum Institute, many technical, scientific and state disciplines have fallen into the work.
Although the 6th Party Congress has specifically emphasized the need to strengthen this discipline even for oil and gas extraction, this is not the only thing strengthened, but, on the contrary, it has weakened, even to a reprehensible degree. It has been practiced wandering without any justification, without any responsibility from one structure to another, leaving one square and starting another, without carrying out the research tasks to the end, as, by the way, in Shkodër, Tirana, Berat, Elbasan, etc. . The rapid survey of the structure at Skrapar and elsewhere has been delayed, allowing the wandering from one profile to another. It is very strange why such a work practices was allowed and who recommended it. The most accurate and scientific methodology of oil research, as it is thought, is the gradual clarification of problems from the known to the unknown, from receiving the results of the wells to their analysis and then moving on to other wells, following the completion of profiles step by step one by one, which Protoko Murati has unjustly opposed, who does not tolerate opposing opinions, especially when they shed light on his faults.
By starting one job, without finishing another, as I mentioned, the clarification of the structure has been delayed, a state of panic, mistrust and uncertainty has been created in the ranks of the oil workers, an extremely dangerous situation and as such strictly condemned by the Party. The common laws of the structures within the belt and the laws of changing geological phenomena from one place to another have not been highlighted everywhere. There have been no complex studies for the squares and for the structures that would be attacked, there has been a lack of persistent scientific work in all its component parts, as well as the correct coordination of geological surveying works, geophysical and thematic works. The drilling of wells was not started from objective scientific analysis, but from pre-formed and doubtful ideas. These sabotaging attitudes have resulted in the flow of the state’s monetary and material funds like a river and without effectiveness.
Wanting to somehow justify his attitude and that of the other managers of the Oil Institute towards the requirements of technical and scientific discipline at work, Protoko Murati has said that they have made improvements in their work, having accurately captured important geological phenomena, which have led to an increase in the level of recognition of geological construction, but the quality of the works is not at the appropriate level. This person, to whom the Party has entrusted the task of the head of geology at the institute, does not say anything about why work is not done with quality. What is the reason that in the last five years, when they had less experience and tools, three oil fields were discovered, while in the last four years only one has been discovered, which also results in very limited oil reserves? What do Beqir Aliaj and Lipe Nashi, the first director of the Oil Institute and the second director of the General Directorate of Oil, say about this fact? What have they been doing all this time?
Serious flaws and weaknesses are observed in the organization and scientific management of work by the governing bodies of the oil sector, where responsibility has not been held and proper control has not been exercised to fulfill the tasks of the plan. Regarding the complicated problems raised by the discovery of new oil and gas reserves, the leaders of this sector have been satisfied with findings, only findings, without deigning to reveal the real causes of non-realization. When they gathered in the active oil and gas research, some comrades rightly criticized the report held, reasoning that it “has more of an ascertaining character”, that it “does not bring out the main causes of failures, presenting the failures as the case may be»: Instead of determining the concrete and effective measures for the drilling and research to shoot the gas-bearing oil structures at the right scale, the leaders of the Oil Institute justify themselves with the difficulties of geological construction, without drawing attention to themselves that these difficulties are overcome with increasing the level of knowledge, with the deepening of general studies and with a well-organized work.
When the Petroleum Institute was created, it was necessary to divide the specialists into different areas, into generations, but when the specialists increased a lot, this division restrained the initiative of the companies that are scattered. The grouping of specialists into generations limited their knowledge, because the generation of one district, for example, does not know that of another district. With the lack of this recognition, the specialist of one generation finds it difficult to give valuable opinions about the projects of the next generation, because he knows little. This remark was made by the specialists, but it was not considered by the directorate of the institute. Since it was not considered before, let’s look at this as a matter of good organization of work hereafter. There has been talk many times of an important general analysis of oil and gas exploration work over the past 12 years, but this study, as well as several others, has dragged on for years. Beqir Aliaj “justified” this inexcusable negligence in the active with a few words, saying: “I have great responsibility for not completing this study on time, because my daily work did not allow me to check how much and properly”. The director friend did not have time to check the work for this very important study, because the work of the day got in the way! Reasoning from the framework is this? The thematic group worked on several “themes” that were not derived from deep technical analysis and, however, no one was tasked to rework them. Apparently, the works were done to realize the theme plan, but not the economic plan of the state! The scientific council of the institute has often passed unprepared materials, without the necessary qualities and with many doubts about their scientific authenticity, etc. All oil executives have accepted this fact. “Our flaws of this nature,” said Koço the Elder, “has cost the national economy very dearly” and then he added: “This does not mean that we should fall morally.” Surprise! After having done all these black things, which he was forced to confess with his mouth, this man (let’s not forget that he is the brother of Panajo the Elder and has systematically sabotaged) gives himself courage, saying: “I will improve the work to reap results in the future”.
Koço Plaku has also made some active proposals, but I am of the opinion that these “proposals”, which make such people suspicious, we have the duty to review them with the greatest care and not blindly. To sugarcoat the flaws seen here, Koço Plaku beats his chest, attributing the merits to himself: “We broke the coordinated revisionist-imperialist blockade, etc. and discovered new oil reserves where foreigners denied them, we have great experience in researches, we have good technical preparation” etc. Well done! And when this is the case, why haven’t steps been taken?! Then what is the reason for the non-realizations? In response to this difficult question, Protoko Murati, Koço Plaku, Beqir Aliaj and others have said in the oil and gas research activity that “We lacked the appropriate method and style at work”. Reading these words in the protocol, I immediately thought of the sworn enemies of our Party, such as: Beqir Balluku, Petrit Dumja, Hito Çakoja and company, who, to cover their betrayal, wanted to hide behind the “method of style of work”! All the oil executives have said that they did not deal with the tasks assigned to them, but with side, administrative issues! Why did it happen like this, when they know very well that the Party has entrusted them with very important leadership tasks, related to the present and the prospect of oil extraction in our country? Is it only with their “administrative mania” that this serious avoidance of duties can be explained?
When they talk about the discovery of oil and gas resources, instead of making an honest analysis in the report as to why they have failed, they deal with such theorizations, as the saying goes, “For the generation of Kruja s’ we have a problem with the object, but the fluid; for the generation of Berat we have the problem object; whereas for the Kurvelesi generation, the problem is the object and the fluid”. What a theory! «Object-fluid, fluid-object»! There has been a lack of accountability from above and criticism from below has not been encouraged. Even when criticisms were made by oilmen, technicians or engineers, these were not well received. The leaders have not even cracked their heads for the criticisms that have been made to them, that they were “own god and own stick”. They acted as if they were their father’s wish and did what they liked. For four or five years, oil failures continued and not only the leaders of the institute, but neither the director of the General Directorate of Oil, Lipe Nashi, nor the Ministry of Industry and Mines asked for an account of why this situation continues, what are the causes, who are the culprits, what do the communists and the oil workers say about this situation.
“We have come to terms with the successive failures we’ve had”, affirms Koço Plaku. “We are responsible for this situation”, add Protoko Murati and Beqir Aliaj. And they remembered that with that the issue would be sealed, thinking that the Party will allow the same situation to continue, in the same sleep. Instead of presenting the difficult situation created to the geologists, technicians and workers for critical discussion, Lipe Nashi, obviously, in order to stifle the criticism of his subordinates, says to one of them, who was discussing: “You are criticizing too much , but you don’t see your mistakes?”. This attitude of Lipe Nashi towards criticism is not Marxist at all. Everyone can make mistakes at work, but this does not deprive anyone of the right to criticism. Even for Koço Theodhos, we can say that, when he went to see the situation created in the extraction of oil and gas, he also talked with someone else, but he only took into account the opinions of the general director, that they always seemed the most right to him. , although the failures continued one after the other for years. Several times we instructed Koço Theodhosin at the meetings of the Political Bureau to take care to have the oil industry in his hands, but, as the affairs show, he did not act according to these orders, because he left the prospects of oil only in the hands of institute and directorate, as I mentioned in the meeting of the Political Bureau of December last year. In the gathering of the oil and gas research assets, Koço Theodhosi called the criticism he made of the leaders of the oil sector a “bomb”, but it was not like that at all, on the contrary, I thought it was rather mild. In the leadership of the oil sector, among others, sick whims have flourished. Thus, during the analysis of non-realizations at the institute level, some members of the geophysical cabinet have tried to justify themselves without reason and, what is even more disgusting; in some cases they have intended to throw the responsibility on others, especially the cabinet of generalizations.
This deceitful action of these cadres is far from those honest and manly attitudes that characterize our workers educated by the Party. These shows, as well as some others that have come up in discussions, should seriously draw our attention to the fact that in the oil sector, our cadres are being infected by dangerous diseases, therefore the Party needs to stop there as soon as possible. At the end of the works of the asset, the director of the General Directorate of Oil also said a few words, who did not get too tired when he mentioned that the flaws and problems “we will see more accurately”. He did not forget to declare: “I guarantee the Party and Comrade Enver for oil extraction”, as if with what he did he would put the Party to sleep. It is a pity that neither the first secretary of the Fier District Party Committee, nor the secretary of this committee, who deals with oil issues there, informed us about this serious situation.
Even fellow members of the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Party, who work in the oil sector, have not been up to the task of understanding the situation in time and signaling the Central Committee to take the necessary measures as soon as possible. These were some conclusions I reached about the situation in the oil sector. For the further determination of the weaknesses, defects and faults of the leaders of the oil sector, as well as for the measures that should be taken to improve the situation, let’s attract the opinion of the oil workers as widely as possible. The Party organization of the oil sector should understand well the responsibilities it has and put itself in charge of the work. First of all, in my opinion, we will have to look at the problem of the framework in the governing bodies of the oil sector. In this direction, let’s kill the mind a lot. Let’s reverse the created situation and help to eliminate as soon as possible some of the flaws I mentioned, as well as others that will be proven. Then let’s look at some aspects of the management organization of the oil sector and the institute itself, which I think should only deal with studies for the discovery of oil and gas deposits./Memorie.al
