Prime Minister Edi Rama accompanied by Deputy PM Belinda Balluku visited on Wednesday the Ferrochrome plant of AlbChrome in Elbasan, where the new investments ensure compliance with all environmental and social standards, as an obligation of all enterprises to protect and not pollute the environment.

The Prime Minister appreciated the company's investment of Euro 2 million for the installation of cleaning filters, which he considered a kept promise.

"Today brought us here a promise kept by the company after a crossroads and an impasse created as a result of the legitimate reaction of the community and also a legitimate reaction of the state institutions to stop the emission of CO2 by installing all the necessary filters," Rama said.

The Prime Minister announced that the company was planning to make this investment, but on the other hand, for the government, this investment needed to be placed in the company's priorities, as priority number one.

"We also had a direct discussion with the company representative who rightly requested a transition phase, guaranteeing that the work to transform the entire dust collection and cleaning system would be placed in the company's main priorities and guaranteeing the immediate start of the investment," added Rama.

According to him, this is a significant investment for the filtration system, of Euro 2 million.

Rama said that the investment is welcomed by the community and state institutions because this is a daily battle that we must all win together.

"This is achieved not simply by imposing drastic measures, but by managing to build bridges of dialogue and understanding, as in this case. Today, on May 1, we are here not only to see the result of this investment and all the transformation done but also to qualitatively increase the conditions of the workers," said Rama.

He also praised the company that has significantly increased the average salary. "The average salary of the AlbChrome company as a whole is 1 thousand euros and the average salary of the company in this plant is about 900 euros, a significant and respectable salary compared to where we started 10 years ago. This salary also expresses the world view of the company, which is based on the need for the employee to be motivated, respected, and all together to create a community," said Rama.

Rama underlined that this company operates in over 50 countries around the world and is known for its social responsibility and for creating this sense of community.

On the other hand, Deputy PM, Belinda Balluku, at the same time the Minister of Infrastructure and Energy said that "raising human capacities in the mining industry is paramount".

During the visit to AlbChrome's Ferrochrome plant in Elbasan, Balluku pointed out that "this enterprise was established in 1979 and has played an important role in Albania's mineral value chain".

"It is universally known how rich our subsoil is with minerals, but what is more important to say is that the processing of these minerals increases the value of this chain, so we also consider the entire contribution of AlbChrome as a contribution of important and essential," she said.

Balluku emphasized that "this plant processes about 8,500 tons of chrome ore per month and produces about 3,200 tons of pure ferrochrome, thus providing an important link in the value chain and mining activity."

According to Balluku, "100% of chrome production in our country today comes from the private sector".

"So it is a fact that in this private sector, in the entire mining industry, more than 7 thousand employees work throughout the country, while mining production reaches Euro 150 million per year, thus constituting 1.5 to 2% of gross production, this figure is very important, while the export reaches Euro 80 million per year", she added.

Balluku emphasized that the government has tried to significantly improve the entire legal framework, while Albania has already opened a new page, that of integration into the European Union.