The Anglo Adriatic Investment Fund SA was an investment fund set up to hold privatisation vouchers issued by the government of post-Communist Albania. It was unsuccessful in its attempts to reinvest them and collapsed.
| Formation | 1996? |
|---|---|
| Type | Investment fund |
| Headquarters | Hotel Rogner Europa Park, Blvd. Deshmoret e Kombit, Tirana, Albania.[1][2] 128 Mount Street, London, W1Y 5HA, United Kingdom[1] |
| Location | |
Official language | English, Albanian |
Founder | Declan Ganley[3][4] |
Key people | Liam Lawlor,[5] (consultant[6]) Kosta Trebicka,[7] Dan De Marino,[4] Gary Hunter[6] |
| Website | n/a |
Structure
editThe Anglo Adriatic Investment Fund SA[2] (AAIF) was established by Irish entrepreneur Declan Ganley.[8] AAIF was the first[8] foreign-managed investment fund in Albania, provisionally licensed on 13 April 1996[8] and definitively licensed on 22 May 1996.[9] AAIF collected privatisation vouchers[4][8] that the government of post-communist Albania was giving to Albanians, and it used the nominal value of those vouchers for investment in areas such as fertilizer,[8] breweries,[10] cement[10] and pharmaceuticals.[10] The Albanians who deposited their vouchers with AAIF received shares in the fund in return.[4]
Early success
editAt one point the fund had 450,000 shareholders and vouchers with a nominal value of more than $120 million.[4]
Collapse
editBut AAIF had collected too many vouchers: it had 12%[9] of all the vouchers and privatisation leks combined, more than the 10% maximum[9] prescribed by law.[nb 1] Following a lengthy period of negotiation and accusation between AAIF and the Albanian government,[9] AAIF was left unable to continue with the privatisation.[9] Even worse, the market value of the vouchers had dropped during the collapse of the Albanian economy from 25.6%[9] of their nominal value in January 1996[9] to 1.7%[9] in October 1998.[9] AAIF was bankrupt.[9]
Funding
editAAIF was officially funded by Ganley International,[3][8] with a 10%[8] stake taken by the US-based Rothschild Emerging Markets Fund.[8] Der Spiegel stated[11] that AAIF's UK office (128 Mount Street, London, W1Y 5HA[1]) shared an address with the European branch of US investment fund Paladin Capital, and also stated[11] that Paladin Capital's advisory board was chaired by former CIA director James Woolsey. Ganley denies any involvement with the CIA.[12]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Law No. 7979, entitled "On Investment Funds", dated 26.07.95, see [1] Archived 14 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine for source
References
edit- ^ a b c "Company Profile - Anglo-Adriatic Investment Fund" Archived 10 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine, entry on PSEPS venture capital and private equity directory Archived 3 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Details for ANGLO ADRIATIC INVESTMENT FUND SA at ICPCredit.com
- ^ a b "Irish anti-EU party to set up in Austria for June elections" Austrian Times, 19 February 2009
- ^ a b c d e "On the mysterious trail of 'Mr No'", Irish Times, 31 May 2008
- ^ "ALBANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES GANLEY AND LAWLOR", Albanian Telegraphic Agency, 11 September 1996
- ^ a b "Flood Tribunal" Friday 28 September 2007
- ^ "Complaint made by: Mr. Rory Fitzgerald BCC Ref. No. 437/08" from www.bcc.ie
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Albania 1999 Country Profile" Business Forum Report, London 17–20 April 1999, from Southeast Europe Online
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "MASS PRIVATISATION PROCESS AND POST PRIVATISATION IN ALBANIA" Archived 14 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine by FATMIR MEMA, University of Tirana, Faculty of Economics, Albania and NEVRUZ KOÇI Albanian State Insurance Company (INSIG), Albania, a paper given in the 1–3 June 2001 SEED Conference "Restructuring, Stability and Development in Southeastern Europe."
- ^ a b c "THE ECONOMIC DESTRUCTION OF ALBANIA" by Michel Chossudovsky, Ottawa, 1997 via www.blythe.org
- ^ a b "Wie ein Milliardär Europa aufschrecktv", Spiegel Online, 28 September 2008, English translation here
- ^ "Facts not politics, learn the truth about Libertas " Archived 3 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Libertas press office, undated