To read this article in Albanian click here
Hidden behind the extravagant financial figures, data researched by INA MEDIA reveal that the Emaar Arabs will invest 2 billion euros for the port of Durrës, while the value of assets, given to the firm and government spending for the new port, go up to 3.8 billion euros. Furthermore, the agreement examined by INA MEDIA reveals that the interest of the Arabs goes beyond the port of Durrës, aiming to extend to the southern coast, mainly Vlora-Saranda-Ksamil.
Author: Xhevahir Zhabina
For several weeks now, the sales office of the Emaar company has been located at the entrance of the port of Durrës, which has won the project for the revitalization of this port and its reshape into a port dedicated to luxury tourism.
Durrës Yacht Marina is already a conspicuous building, while in the port area the construction of the project, which will change the most important part of the city, is expected to start after 3 months.
The official website, www.durresyachtsmarina.com, lists some of the project data, the only data made public so far about what is expected to happen in one of the most coveted areas of Durrës.
A 3D video and a brochure published on the official website shed more light on the project, which aims to turn the current port into a luxury yacht port and residential area, aiming to turn it into a “city” of luxury living.
“Featuring a pristine, 14 km long natural beach, the community will be home to over 12,000+ residential units with more than 80,000 m2 of parks and open spaces, as well as entertainment, services and restaurant units. The development of the Yachts and marina of Durrës will also include exclusively a marina and cruise terminal, which will connect Durrës with the glittering splendor of the Adriatic Sea and beyond,” reads the official website.
Without a detailed, public project and amid uncertainties about what will happen in this area, however, the Albanian government gave the green light a few days ago to the transfer of 80.9 hectares of land from the Municipality of Durrës to the Ministry of Infrastructure.
More specifically, it is about 209 assets of the Port Authority of Durrës, which will now be made available to Symphony Real Estate Development sh. p. k., the company that will develop the project after signing the agreement.
“Transfer to the real estate fund for the support of strategic investments (FPPMIS), which is administered by the ministry responsible for economy, real estate, state in the cadastral zone no. 8514, Municipality of Durrës, with a total area of 80.9 (eighty points nine) ha, defined in Annex 1 and in the map-plans, which are attached to this decision and are an integral part of it “, – is stated in the decision no. 861, dated December 29, 2021, published in the Official Gazette.
The Albanian government on the other hand seems determined on its decision to turn the port of Durres into a tourist port and relocation of the commercial one to Porto-Romano.
“Properties, according to the definitions of point 1 of this decision, to be used by the Port Authority, Durrës until its final relocation, according to the stages of project implementation, defined in decision no. 14/6, dated 2.12.2021, of the Strategic Investment Committee. The Port Authority of Durrës is prohibited from changing the destination, alienating it or giving it to third parties for use”, – is said in the same decision.
On September 23, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that 5 finalist companies had been selected to participate in the Porto-Romano project, which will be built within 4 years.
The social media posting of the Prime Minister, Edi Rama (in Albanian), declaring the announcement of the winner for Porto-Romano and the project of what the new port will be like
Lack of transparency
The project for the construction of the Durrës marina was published in April 2021, shortly before the parliamentary elections.
The Emaar Company from the UAE, one of the largest in the world, undertook to invest $ 2 billion in the transformation of the current port, turning it into a marina. The project envisions the construction of luxury-dedicated tourism services, apartments, hotels and shopping malls to turn the area into an elite tourism attraction. The investment is projected to be one of the largest foreign investments in Albania in recent years.
Hidden behind the extravagant figures, there is still no detailed project or feasibility study, made public. The only data that is public are some beautiful 3D images that show what is expected to happen in the heart of the city of Durrës.
Covered with shadows of doubt, no one has made an account of what Durrës loses and what it gains from this investment under the guise of strategic investments. The project to turn the port of Durrës into a tourist port is managed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, to which Investigative Network Albania addressed a series of questions to cast away the mystery that covers this project, but until the publication of this article this ministry did not answer request for information from INA MEDIA.
Data provided unofficially by Investigative Network Albania reveal that the contract for the sale of the port of Durrës is very shady in terms of benefits to the Albanian side.
Referring to the contract signed between the Albanian government and the United Arab Emirates, the Arab company will manage to acquire, in addition to the port, a very large plot of land, as well as many other facilities, which go beyond the port of Durrës, but extend to Saranda, to be offered to the latter in the guise of being a “strategic investor”.
The current port’s value
Confidential sources of INA MEDIA reveal that the land area, which is made available to the firm for the implementation of the project, is 80 hectares in the most coveted area of the city of Durrës, information which was made official only a few days ago.
The market price at which the land in this area is sold is around 2000 euros per square meter.
If we do the math, the project covers about 800 0000 square meters of land, the value of which is about 1.6 to 1.8 billion euros.
And here we are talking only about construction land, but the area that Emaar will acquire is much larger, as it includes both the aquarium and the canal from where the ships enter port.
Both of these units are estimated to have an area of about 67 hectares.
Located for the first time in 1928 in the same place where it is today, on the 90-year-old port of Durrës, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested over the years, to upgrade it to today’s standards.
The length of the quay of this port is about 2200 meters and its value as a port, together with the investments made there over the years, is from 1 to 1.3 billion euros.
According to the government and the little information that has been made public, Emaar will invest 2 billion dollars in Durrës, but the value of the land and the value of the port exceeds the investment by almost one billion euros.
It does not end there. The Albanian government has calculated that the new commercial port will be moved to the Porto-Romano area and the value of its construction is about 500 million euros, which will be paid by the Albanian taxpayer.
In simple words, an investment of 2 billion dollars will be made in Durrës, while only the land that will be made available, costs about 2 billion euros, all the while the value of port investments over the decades is about 1.3 billion euros. To this amount is added another 500 million euros for the construction of the new port in Porto-Romano.
Practically 2 billion euros will be invested, while the value of assets, gifted to the firm and the expenses that the government must carry to have a new port, is about 3.8 billion euros.
Takeover of the coast by the United Arab Emirates
On December 3, 2020, the government and parliament would ratify the economic cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates.
Investigative Network Albania has been able to acquire law 145/2020, which defines the duties of the parties. In the 9 articles contained in this law, it is clearly understood that the interest of the United Arab Emirates is not only the port of Durrës, but they also have ambitions to extend their grip to the southern coast.
By law, the parties have agreed on a number of projects of a strategic nature.
The focus is on investments in the tourism and agriculture industry in the most coveted area of Albania, Vlora-Saranda-Ksamil.
The Emirates, according to this law, will also focus on tourism investments in the Përmet area.
“The parties have agreed on a list of specific projects, which are considered of a strategic nature: 1. Re-development of the Port of Durrës; 2. Investment opportunities in the tourism, agriculture and logistics industry in Vlora, Saranda and Ksamil; 3. Investments in the field of tourism in the area of Përmet ”, – is stated in article 6 of this law.
Facsimile of Article 6, which provides a series of facilities for investments in Albania from the Arab party (in Albanian)
Article 6 of this law is the most important, as it provides something else, which is not often encountered in such agreements, signed between the two states.
The parties, who have signed this agreement, have the right to propose other entities, whether public or private, that will cooperate to guarantee the implementation of projects.
So, according to the law, it can be proposed to private companies to be part of this project, but the law does not specify in which cases or in what form.
“The Parties will propose specific entities from the public and private spheres, which will cooperate to guarantee the successful implementation of the projects listed above, some or all, as agreed by the Parties”, – leaves further space article 6 .
For expert Pano Soko, this article gave the green light to enter the game, either to the oligarchs, who are close to the government, or to unconditional support for Emaar.
“Is this a parenthesis of the opportunities that open up to the so-called oligarchs close to the government to obtain construction permits in exclusive areas or is it just a point to pave the way for EMAAR and its partners, so that they do not have legal obstacles? Today there are doubts, but I would not like to speculate”, – Soko is reserved in his comments.
The law stipulates that such strategic projects are not subject to public procurement or competitive procedures.
“Strategic programs and projects, agreed, in accordance with this agreement, will not be in any of the Parties subject to public procurement, public tender, competitive procedure, public or any other procedure, defined in the national legislation of Albania or of the United Arab Emirates “, – is stated in Article 6.
INA MEDIA requested clarifications from the ministry, what are the reasons that this project is excluded from public procurement, as it is one of the largest ever approved by the Albanian government.
Pano Soko describes this point of the law as a concern not only of Albanians.
Referring to the way the port of Durrës was “sold”, according to him, the EU has been concerned from the beginning, as the road to competition was closed, as there could be interest from European companies.
“If the legal competition is removed here, just to benefit the investor and not the country, then this would be another affair, which is not a new thing for our country,” said Soko.
The economics expert, Pano Soko, explains that we have a framework agreement, but we do not have a real project, which would introduce us to the final product.
“What has been advertised in the media has been very cursory information, more with a marketing effect, than a real project, so everything we say today about the project is in the context of speculation,” said Soko.
Osman Metalla, dean at the University of Durrës and professor at the Department of Engineering and Marine Sciences, describes it as an unstudied decision.
“Such decisions require a large database. Such a decision has come as a result of the top-down method, from top to bottom. It did not come as a market demand or the needs that the port activity has today, but it came as a result of the decision of an individual, who decided that we should move the port somewhere else “, – says Metalla for Investigative Network Albania.
The former head of the Navy, Artur Meçollari, explains that this project does not have a feasibility study and its transformation to a yacht port, as well as the introduction of Albania in this industry would be quite difficult if not impossible.
He cites a 2019 study, ahead of the COVID 19 pandemic of the Adriatic Sea Forum, where Albania ranks behind Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Greece in terms of this industry.
Albania’s ranking with regards to tourist frequentation
“In 2019, according to this study, about 75 thousand yachts touch its [Adriatic] ports, of which 55% Italian, 20% in Croatian ports and the rest in Slovenian, Montenegrin, Albanian and Greek ports (Corfu). Albania is visited by only 200 yachts per year and mainly for fuel supply with zero tax. In this yacht market, somewhat regulated, a feasibility study would show the development trend of this port and the possibility of its success in this market “, – explains Meçollari.
Skepticism, and the importance of transport
The port of Durrës is the most important transport hub in Albania, as access to this port is enabled to Kosovo and Northern Macedonia in the current conditions.
This port processes about 4 million tons of goods per year, about 150 thousand containers, but its capacities are not fully utilized.
According to experts, this project is not viewed favorably by the country’s strategic ally, the EU.
“The port of Durrës is designed to process about 8 million tons of goods, we are somewhere around 50% of its use. Is it normal to invest hundreds of millions of euros to build a new port, when we have one that we do not use 100%? “The national transport plan, funded by the EU, which was completed at the end of 2019, does not provide for such a project to change the destination of ports,” said Osman Metalla.
For the former head of the Navy, Artur Meçollari, this is a project not consulted with traditional allies, such as NATO and the European Union. The latter have even expressed reservations.
For this reason, Commissioner Borrell would rhetorically ask “Is this project in accordance with the MSA?”, – said Artur Meçollari.
The port is connected to the main road corridors in the country and is also accessible by rail, but which has not been put into operation. The Port of Durrës currently offers this opportunity and is the only one in the country that has this type of position on the sea, road and rail transport route and therefore it is no coincidence that it has this level of processing, as it has been invested for decades.
In the government program, 2017-2021, regarding rail transport, it is stated that there will be a connection between Albania, Kosovo and Northern Macedonia, introducing the railway network in the context of a regional railway transport network, which will influence the transformation of the ports of Durrës, Shengjin and Vlora as reference, regional ports.
Questions for Porto-Romano
From the way it is developed today, Porto-Romano does not leave much space and the only possibility is its northern area.
“2/3 of the bay has been exploited in an unstudied way, because today two hydrocarbon ports have been built there”, – Osman Metalla explains.
According to him, the investments so far in this bay have been in support of businesses there, so today we have to play conditionally, adapting to unstudied developments.
But, although in these extreme conditions again by the institutions there is no feasibility study, if this bay is suitable to build a port of such capacity.
“Is there a geological study of the area? Is there a balimetric study of the area? Do we have the study of the wind patterns? When we think of building a terminal, we have very important elements that we have to judge”, – lists some very important questions Osman Metalla, that the institutions should pay attention to.
According to him, the decision to relocate the cargo port in Porto-Romano is a conditional decision and not based on strategy.
“First, a port is not being built to transfer functions from port A to port B. The first question that arises: Who will the new port under construction serve? How far does his service extend? How much traffic is forecasted? What are the main cargoes that will be processed through this port? What are the logistical connections of this port, which should be in service to ensure a normal and fast transfer, as required by logistics?”, – rightly asks Metalla, dean at the University of Durrës.
Porto-Romano, where the freight port will be relocated, has an exit in terms of the highway on the Durrës-Tirana highway, but there is no railway line, which is very important for ports, which will maintain the capacity of goods processing.
Artur Meçollari lists a number of technical and geological reasons, which according to him make Porto-Romano an unsuitable bay to develop port spaces.
“Apart from the processing and accommodation surfaces on the ground, it does not offer the necessary depths, sufficient quay lengths, aquarium surfaces to allow safe maneuvering. From the hydro-navigation point of view, it is an open region from the northwest and south, and there is no waiting point at the anchor”, – said Meçollari.
Violation of national security
In May of this year in Albania would take place one of the largest NATO exercises, where thousands of Alliance troops landed in Albania. Its starting point was exactly from the port of Durrës, where senior NATO military speakers gave speeches.
Artur Meçollari explains that it is no coincidence that the commander of the US Land Force described the port of Durrës as the only opportunity to deploy troops to the Black Sea.
For this reason, according to Meçollari, Albania must be well positioned, in order to understand where it will be after 50 or 100 years, giving priority to national security and the impact in the region, which it can have, only if it uses the geographical position properly.
“The Commander of the United States Land Forces, who led the “European Defender 21” exercise, stressed that “the port of Durrës has a strategic approach”, as the only port with the capacity to deploy troops in the region of Black Sea. So, from a NATO strategic point of view, changing the destination of the port of Durrës is not effective.
The EU questions this project, there is no feasibility study, both for the role of Porto-Romano in the regional transport system, as for the change of destination of the port of Durrës into a tourist port. What is predicted for the next 50 or 100 years? “There is no answer,” – said Meçollari.
Artur Meçollari, former Deputy Commander of the Navy, describes the port of Durrës as a major asset of national security. Referring to the National Security Strategy, 2004, which defined as its objective “Albania’s protagonism in regional trade”, he thinks that with this investment policy Albania may lose its role of influence in the region.
More specifically, he refers to the USA-Kosovo agreement of September 4, 2020, not approved by Kosovo, which aimed at the Belgrade-Pristina railway network, towards a deep Adriatic port, which means Albania.
“In the technical sense, a deep port defines a port with a processing capacity of over 1 million containers per year, with a depth of over 15 m and that requires a port space, effective over 300 ha. All this traffic expected from the activation of land and railway corridors is greater than the maximum processing capacity of the port of Durrës. We should aim at build a deep port on the Albanian coast,” – he explained.
“But Porto-Romano, not only cannot be a deep port, it cannot even reach the capacity of the port of Durrës. This will make the neighbors look for other, alternative routes, avoiding Albania as a transit center for neighboring countries without access to the sea, such as Northern Macedonia and Kosovo.”, – makes the pessimistic forecast Meçollari.
