FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Behind the scenes of the construction of the Vlora airport: shareholder disputes, environmental crime and political bargaining in the hands of Rama...
From the moment the quarrel broke out between the "shareholders" of the Vlora airport concession, everything was filled with a 'heavy smell' of corruption and bargaining.
The public appearance of Behxhet Pacolli and his partner Valon Ademi, who clashed after Pacolli's meetings with Rama in the prime ministership, was an alarm signal that should normally have brought immediate penalties for the companies involved. Because an airport, as a public work, is a strategic asset of the state, which must be protected by law and where every step of the contracting parties is predetermined and detailed.
But in Rama's Albania, the opposite happens: the parties behave as if they are private owners and not contractors of a national asset.
The contracting authority, namely the Ministry of Infrastructure, not only does not intervene, but remains silent, allowing the companies to make a public fuss, delay the works and change the deadlines at will. In a normal state, benefits would have been suspended, the construction would have been taken over by the state and a criminal investigation would have been launched. In Albania, this farce continues with the blessing of the prime minister.
The airport dispute also exposes the total lack of transparency. It is not known what the true amount of investments is, which banks the loans were taken from, at what interest, the quality of the works, what additional funds will be given to the companies from the state budget, and when the real completion is expected.
The deadlines have changed several times. Initially, it was said that the airport would be ready in 2025, then it was postponed to the summer of 2026. Summer is over, autumn is coming, and the airport is still an unfinished ruin.
A year ago, Edi Rama made a splash by saying that Vlora airport would be managed by Munich Airport. This was a personal lobbying of the prime minister and Pacolli in the Bavarian circles, but the scheme failed. At a meeting of the Munich City Council, the airport representative declared that the contract with Vlora airport would not be renewed, describing this project as an “environmental crime” and as “the encroachment of the thousand-year-old Vjosa delta.”
A decision that justifies the denunciations of civil society and proves that the airport is a failed project that is destroying the environment.
But the problem is not only ecological. Behind the scenes, political and financial disputes are hidden. The exit of Pacolli and his partner, who had only 2% of the shares, is not a coincidence. It is related to the combination of interests of Albanian consortiums, which seek to get a piece of the Vlora airport cake. A cake that, as happened with the construction, is likely to end up in management in a mysterious way, without transparency and away from the public eye.
In the end, the Vlora airport is not simply an infrastructure project, but a clear example of institutionalized corruption, the bargaining of Rama and his friends, and the betrayal of the public interest in the name of enriching the minority./ Pamphlet
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