Albania has been suspended by the Board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) since October 2023, due to the non-submission of transparency reports on the extractive industry for several years.

The World Bank, which is supporting a project related to increasing transparency and supporting the Albanian part of the EITI, has provided details on the progress of the project so far, which aims to fill the missing reports of several years.

"The project was requested by the government to support the implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Albania is currently suspended from the EITI Board as of October 2023, due to its failure to meet reporting deadlines with EITI reports. The project is funding the preparation of EITI reports for 2019, 2020, and 2021. A consortium of firms has been on the ground since October 2023 to prepare the reports.

As soon as they are published and evaluated as complete, the EITI Board will decide on lifting the suspension" says the summary of the World Bank regarding the project "Support for the process of the Initiative for Transparency in. The Extractive Industry in Albania".

It is about a second project in this sector that is now being supported with 700 thousand dollars after a previous project with a fund of 600 thousand dollars. The current assessment of the project by the Bank is "moderately unsatisfactory".

The EITI is a global standard for good governance of oil, gas, and mineral resources. It seeks to address key governance issues in extractive sectors.

The EITI Board is the main decision-making body of the EITI. It sets the organization's priorities and assesses countries' progress in meeting the EITI standard.

This board consists of a multilateral group consisting of 20 representatives from implementing countries, supporting countries, civil society organizations, industry, and institutional investors.

The Government of Albania committed to implement the EITI on December 27, 2008, by approving Order No. 156 for the establishment of an Inter-institutional Working Group, which would prepare the application for Albania's candidacy for the EITI.

The country was accepted as a candidate in May 2009 at the EITI Board meeting in Washington DC in the United States.