Income from mining rents decreased in the first seven months of the year, compared to the same period a year ago.

According to data from the Ministry of Finance, for the period January - July of this year, about Lek 1.64 billion were collected, or 9.9% less than the same period of 2023.

This decrease in income seems to reflect the decrease in the price of oil in the international markets. This is because the companies pay the mining rent to the state, which is calculated on the taxable value of income from the activity of oil and mineral extraction.

The decrease may also be caused by the drop in production, but at least the state oil company Albpetrol reports almost the same amount of production for 2024, compared to last year. Meanwhile, data from Bankers Petroleum, which operates in the largest oil-bearing field, Patos-Marinza, has not been made public. Also, the amount of minerals produced during the 7 months has not been published yet.

However, in 2021, legal changes came into force that exempted from the rent for three years metallic minerals that are processed in the country and exported in the form of mining by-products, which affects the reduction of income. For hydrocarbons, the mining rent is calculated by applying a rate of 10 percent of the market value of oil and gas extracted in the territory of the Republic of Albania. For chromium, copper, and iron-nickel, it is 6%, while for other minerals it varies from 4% to 10%.