The Ministry of Economic Development, Trade, and Entrepreneurship has announced the winner of the concession for the construction, development, maintenance, and operation of the Technological and Economic Development Area (TEDA) in Spitalla, Durrës.
The economic free zone has the size of of 101.2 ha, and will be tendered out to a consortium of Pelikan shpk, The Best Construction shpk, and Vëllezërit Hysa shpk for a symbolic amount of €1. The lease is valid for 99 years.
The consortium, which will profit from a special favorable tax regime, has promised to construct a €39 million ferro-chrome enrichment factory that is supposed to employ 2,500 people from the region.
The TEDA in Spitalla is one of three economic free zones announced by then Ministry of Economic Development, Tourism, Trade, and Entrepreneurship Arben Ahmetaj in August 2015, the other two being in Koplik and Vlora.
The concession in Spitalla has a long and fraught history. In 2008, the Berisha government announced the development of an industrial park of 805 ha, with 35-year concession. The plan was never implemented.
In January 2015, the Rama government reduced the area to 500 ha., with a symbolic price of €1, and a concession of 35 years. In July 2015, the concession length was extended to 99 years. In spite of rumors about Turkish or Macedonian investors, the tender, opened by the government, received only two bids by Chinese companies without any previous background in development. One of the two bidders posted a photo online of the Prime Minister Rama’s brother together with one of the company’s directors. This first tender was canceled in February 2016 by Prime Minister Rama to “avoid political speculations”:
I heard an accusation about a transparent process, with an international procedure, for the economic zone of Spitalla, and only because of the fact that my brother was accompanied by a friend of his from emigration in the US, who is an entrepreneur related to the company that could be the winner, I asked the minister to cancel the tender.
The Chinese companies, however, received a message from Minister Milva Ekonomi stating that their “documents didn’t fulfill the conditions set by the Ministry of Economy.” Then in April 2016 the size of the area was further reduced to 200 ha.
In February 2017, a second tender was announced by Minister Ekonomi for 101.2 ha, which has now been won by the Albanian consortium.
