Albanian asset sales

The sale of assets of five Albanian companies, said by the government to have operated pyramid schemes, would start on Monday in an effort to maximise returns for thousand of investors, officials said yesterday.

The five companies, which did not collapse last year with a welter of others, were put under the administration of accountants Deloitte & Touche in November last year.

The five firms involved in the asset sales collected money from 1991 until January 1997, offering huge returns, but have not been able to repay their 140,000 creditors, owed $348 million (£251 million).