KLSh: Concession of Spitalla Economic Zone Should Be Cancelled Immediately

The State Supreme Audit Institution (KLSh) has requested the immediate cancellation of the 99-year concession of the Economic Zone Spitalla, near Durrës. An auditing report of the KLSh found a serious of legal violations during the public procurement procedure, after which theMinistry of Economic Development, Trade, and Entrepreneurship  announced the wrong winner:

The auditing […] found that the individual evaluations done by specialists in the field of specific criteria have not been taken into consideration by the Offer Evaluation Commission (KVO), unjustly changing the final result of the competing economic operators.

The KLSh recommends measures be taken to cancel the announcement of the consortium of economic operators no. 2 as winner, because the audit has shown that consortium no. 1, whose offer envisioned an investment of €54 million and employment of 9,500 workers more than the consortium that was unjustly listed on the first place.

The KLSh has also recommended the investigation of the 6 members of the KVO concerning their incorrect decision.

After a fraught history that started in 2008, the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade, and Entrepreneurship announced in August 2017 a consortium of Pelikan shpk, The Best Construction shpk, and Vëllezërit Hysa shpk as the winner of the concession for the construction, development, maintenance, and operation of the Technological and Economic Development Area (TEDA) in Spitalla, Durrës.

The consortium, which would profit from a special favorable tax regime and a symbolic rent of €1, had promised to construct a €39 million ferro-chrome enrichment factory that is supposed to employ 2,500 people from the region.