Zog's success in defeating two local rebellions convinced Mussolini that the Italians had to reach a new agreement with the Albanian monarch. Relations with Italy were improved in 1936. A government of young men led by Mehdi Frashëri, an enlightened Bektashi administrator, won a commitment from Italy to fulfill financial promises that Mussolini had made to Albania, and to grant new loans for harbour improvements at Durrës and other projects that kept the Royal Albanian Government afloat. Soon Italians began taking positions in Albania's civil service, and Italian settlers were allowed into the country.