The operators of Albania’s oil refiner ARMO have created a debt from unpaid salaries to oil workers amounting to Euro 5.7 million only during the six-month period from August 2015 to January 2016, Klan TV reported on Friday, citing data from a report of the Ministry of Energy.

According to the report, in this period there were 1,170 employees in the payroll of the Ballsh and Fier oil plants, whose employment contract was concluded with ARMO, which had leased to the company TPD the factory of Fier and to Deveron Oil the Ballsh plant.

“A contract is for the lease of all activity and assets owned by ARMO sh.a. together with the labor force in exchange for a payment of 75 USD/ton of refined oil. ARMO sh.a. has the obligation to pay salaries, energy, water and taxes related to the property it owns,” according to the report. A good part of the workers have not yet received the salaries of this period, there are 505 court decisions waiting the execution of this fund.

The workers also claim the unpaid wages from the company IRTC Oil that operated the Ballsh oil plant until the end of 2017. The company failed to pay 5 months of salaries, while leaving the refinery with Dollar 25 million of unpaid taxes and fees.

But what should be the solution to the problem of workers' salaries? Should the state be held accountable?

Pursuant to the Labor Code and the Civil Procedure Code, the compensation for the salaries of 2015-2016 should be made by the company ARMO, which has had employment contracts with oil workers and for 2017 the compensation should be made by IRTC Oil, which had provisional contracts with employees.

During the auction sale of ARMO, the assets of the Ballsh oil plant were taken under the control of a second level bank in 2017 while the Fier plant was taken under the control of Albpetrol in 2018.