OPEN LETTER/ Come to the dialogue and listen to me speak, otherwise I will cut off your scholarships, you will rot in prison. Please!

 Kliko këtu për të tjera
Voxpress:

Minister Balluku's "golden roads": Corrupt concessions, abusive contracts and predetermined tenders

2022-12-13 23:21:22Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Minister Balluku's "golden roads": Corrupt concessions, abusive
"Florinjta roads" of Minister Balluku

The show "Inside Story" on Top Channel has published a documentary tonight about the "golden ways" of Minister Belinda Balluku, all the corrupt concessions and predetermined tenders.

One of the topics broadcast on the show was the origin of the Lekaj-Fier and Thumanë-Kashar concessions. This project was once envisioned as a single.

The tender was announced in July 2020 by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the estimated value of the project was 1.18 billion euros. A Greek company called "Terna" showed interest. After a few months, at the end of 2020, Minister Belinda Balluku announced the cancellation of the tender, without giving details about the offer of the Greeks. It is not known what were the motives that pushed the minister towards this decision, but what is seen today is the increase of the bill for Albanian taxpayers several times.

But what happened next? The project was broken into 5 sections. Lekaj-Fier and Thumanë-Kashar are two different concessions that go over 2.6 billion euros, that is, twice the initial project that provided for the construction of the entire axis from Milot to Fier.

Here we must not forget that 3 other sections still remain unplanned, specifically Milot-Thumane, Kashar-Pezë and Pezë-Lekaj. This means that the value of Milot-Fier, from 1.18 billion that was predicted, could go over 4 billion with the slicing and sharing of the money cake.

Meanwhile, the "Fusha" company, winner of the Lekaj-Fier concession, is known for the high number of contracts it has with the Albanian state.

It is owned by Shkëlqim Fusha, which also owns several other companies. According to the data, the field counts a total of 61 public contracts with the local government. The value that benefited from Albanian taxpayers' money is over 5.8 billion ALL. So, about 50 million dollars, not counting here the last concession that will cost the pockets of Albanians a full 1.3 billion dollars.

This company counts dozens of contracts with public enterprises, ARRSH, the Health sector, etc. Only with the Albanian Development Fund according to Open Corporates, Fusha shpk counts 12 contracts worth a full 5.1 billion ALL or nearly 50 million dollars.

Meanwhile, several other companies have joined under the umbrella of Fusha in the abusive Lekaj-Fier concession. The commonality of these companies brought under the umbrella of Fusha shpk is that they have little or no experience in road construction, especially highways. Some of them don't even have the right tools to carry out the work that this concession contract provides. All of this adds even more shadows of suspicion to the favoring of companies that apparently cannot build roads alone.

"Inside Story" also made a comparison of the costs of the Lekaj-Fier project with a similar project somewhere in Albania on the same terrain, that is, plains and mostly straight roads. "Inside Story" provided the complete budget, which lists in detail all the works for a 3 kilometer long road with 4 lanes and two directions.

If we look at the official data of the costs of the company that built this road, they amount to 536 million ALL without VAT. In other words, about 5 million euros for 3 kilometers of four-lane road. It includes the construction of the road from the beginning, earthworks, sidewalks, greenery, lighting, side structures, signage and every possible detail.

So, the cost does not exceed 2 million euros per kilometer, which is more normal and justified. The road construction company entered the competitive tender giving an offer of 5 million euros, which was almost 50% of the limit fund.

So, when there is competition in a tender, as in the present case, the tendency is for values ​​to decrease. Now, if we stop and compare it with Lekaj-Fier, here lies the essence of the abuse, the lack of competition. This is also one of the most abusive contracts.

As we mentioned above, the company "Fusha" gathered around itself seven other entities and was declared the winner of the 35-year concession for the design, construction, maintenance and rehabilitation of the Lekaj-Konjat-Fier segment.

These companies are expected to collect about 1.3 billion euros during the implementation of the contract, for a road that is actually over 90% built and with standards. What makes it more difficult is the fact that there was only one bid in the race. So all the doubts are about default race.

Potential competitors united around the company "Fusha" to share the profits. The concession is about a road with a length of 46 kilometers with an investment value of 320 million euros without VAT. In fact, the axis, part of the blue corridor, is not a new road at all. Practically speaking, only 3.2 kilometers are new roads built from the ground up, since the rest is on the existing axis. The only improvement to the existing axis is a 20 kilometer emergency lane.

The Rrogozhinë-Lushnje road is a segment completed only a few years ago. Even Lushnjë-Fier results with the standards required by the "Blue Corridor" project.

The estimated cost of the project will reach 7 million euros per kilometer. Without forgetting the fact that this money is thrown for a road built in the vast majority. Not only that, but the concessionaire is provided with secure receipts from the state for the missing traffic. The payment is expected to cost 2 euros. So, in the future, every citizen must calculate an additional cost of 4 euros round trip if he travels, for example, from Tirana to Fier.

But it cannot be categorically allowed to impose a toll if there is no alternative route. In this case, the alternative route is missing and the citizens cannot be forced to pay the concessionaire.

Another suspicious tender that was analyzed by the show Inside Story was the contract where Belinda Balluku gave 10 million dollars to "Gener 2" for the escarpments in Kardhiq - Delvinë

Each road is tendered and it is foreseen that the accompanying works, such as side slopes, will be systematized by the winning company for the respective lot.

But, surprisingly, in May 2022, the Albanian Road Authority, under the Ministry of Infrastructure headed by Belinda Balluk, has developed a special tender for the slopes. The winner is declared the company "Gener 2", often rumored for benefiting from dubious concessions. The value of the contract is 1.43 billion ALL or about 10 million dollars.

But what are escarpments? They are part of the road, or otherwise of the road fence. The slope is the part outside the carriageway where, as the case may be, certain elements are placed to fix the soil or rocks. According to experts, they should have been provided for in the initial award project as it is one of the components that make up the road. So if you envision a road without escarpments, it's like designing a car without wheels. This means that the initial project for the Kardhiq-Delvina axis, which does not include escarpments, is abusive. For this, the heads of the Ministry of Infrastructure must bear responsibility.

The other element that is noticeable in the Kardhiq-Delvina axis is the project's fragmentation into lots. In fact, this is a rather disturbing phenomenon that we see in most large projects. This happens for two reasons: The first and main one is the fact that Albanian companies do not meet the criteria for projects of these levels and values. Thus, they avoid fair competition with international companies. The second reason is fragmentation for sharing the money pie.

Audits have also revealed inflated invoices with unfinished works, an open theft of taxpayers' money.

For Lot 4, volumes of unfinished works are included in the booklets, for two items of works, in the amount of over 1.7 million ALL. For Lot 5, from the verification carried out in the field, it was found that the volume of works, unfinished for four items of work, in the amount of 7.4 million Lek without VAT, was included. For Lot 6, volumes of unfinished works are included, for a total of six items of works in the amount of 18.4 million ALL without VAT. So, in total, the state has forgiven private companies a total of 27.5 million new lek, or in other words about 250 thousand dollars.

Sonila Qato, the former head of the Albanian Road Authority, has been called to testify in SPAK for this road axis. But, until today, no one has taken responsibility for the inflated costs that burden the Albanians.

Another contract analyzed by "Inside Story" was the Thumanë-Kashar axis, part of the "1 Billion" project, which was submitted to procurement after an unsolicited offer made by the "Gener 2" company.

In July 2018, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy announced that the company had been declared the winner with an offer of 225.8 million euros. There were also three other companies in the competition.

However, the government withdrew from the project in 2019 after declaring that this money earmarked for the project would be dedicated to the "Pact for the University" following massive student protests. At that time, the scandal of the tender of 30 million euros for one of the lots of the ring of Tirana broke out. Investigations later revealed that the winning company DH Albania had falsified the documents for the tender. It was an extension of "Gener 2".

The government was forced to backtrack on the concession after "Gener 2" appealed to the Court. The latter gave him the right by forcing the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy to renegotiate the contract. But what was scandalous at this point was the fact that the government did not appeal the decision.

Let's see in a little more detail the decision of the Tirana Administrative Court of Appeal of July 27, 2021 for this concession. Judge Rilinda Selimi was the chairperson of the panel, composed among others by judges Altina Nasufi and Blerona Hasa.

In the arguments of the company, it is stated that specifically, at the time when the cancellation by the ministry took place, it had subcontracted services, consultants, bank security, staff payments, loan contracts, sales contracts, etc. These are considered damages to the company. According to them, the indicted party, that is, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, has arbitrarily taken a decision to terminate the procedure.

Among other things, it is said that it was the ministry itself that asked the subject and the local government bodies to immediately start taking measures for the implementation of the concession contract.

This project would be developed with the company's capital in the amount of 25 million euros and 169 million euros would be borrowed.

On the other hand, the ministry claimed that no violations of the law were found on its part.

The Administrative Court of the First Instance gave him the right and with the decision of December 5, 2019 decided to dismiss the company's lawsuit.

"The court has assessed that this claim of the plaintiff is unsupported by the provisions of law no. 125/2013 "On concessions and public private partnership", amended."

However, the situation changed in the Appeal where the decision of the first instance was overturned, giving the right to the "Gener 2" company.

"The defendant's withdrawal through this act from the process of approving the draft contract has unjustifiably interfered with the plaintiff's expected right to finalize the contract."

As a result, the court decided to cancel the order of the ministry to cancel the concession. What stands out is that one of the members of the judging panel, judge Altina Nasufi, spoke against this decision of the Administrative Court of Appeal. What raises strong shadows of doubt is the withdrawal of the Ministry of Infrastructure from the legal process.

The institution headed by Belinda Balluku did not appeal to the Supreme Court to oppose a decision that it had considered unsupported by law. So, the lack of recourse paved the way for the signing of the contract with "Gener 2".

Meanwhile, for two months, residents of the villages of Bërxulë and Fushë-Prezë, part of the Municipality of Vorë, have been protesting after the project of the Thumanë-Kashar road was suddenly changed, entering their fields and houses.

20 houses in Bërxulle and 12 in Fushë-Prezë are at risk at this moment, while the number may increase, residents say. The signed list of residents affected by the project's deviation is about 80. They say they are uncertain what will happen to their properties and their fate.

If we look at and compare these two maps where the project footprint lies, it has actually changed from the old project that was canceled in 2019. The previous project ran straight along the airport road while the current change includes a detour that goes into the lands of the villages of Fushë Prezë and Bëxulle.

An official response from the Territorial Development Agency to the residents confirms, among other things, that there is no application for a permit from the company or a decision approved by the KKT for the "Thumanë-Kashar Highway" facility.

One of the residents most affected by this deviation of the road project in Bërxulë is Dritan Zeneli and his family. Fadroms, which are heard and seen to have come very close to Dritan's house, strike terror into him and his neighbors who are in great danger.

"There are about 2-3 detours on the Thumanë-Kashar road, where the last one affects all my properties. About 5,600 square meters of arable land plus I have warehouses, two apartments and cattle stables where I have invested in agriculture and animal husbandry.

All of Dritan's life investment with immigration money is in danger of being extinguished:

"I have been immigrating for about 15 years, and I thought I would stay close to my family. I have invested all my income that I have collected here. I was outside and I was very inspired by the calls of the prime minister, the ministries, I focused on agriculture and livestock. I have spent my whole life here for 15 years."

To learn more about the "golden streets" below is the full link of the "Inside Story" documentary:

 


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

Video

SHIKO KANALIN NE YOUTUBE
×