Albanian parliament approves a 230-mln euro loan for road to Kosova

TIRANA, April 26 – The Albanian parliament approved, last week, a 230 million euro loan to help fund construction of a road segment that would shorten the route to neighboring Kosova.
The commercial loan, the biggest ever for which no terms were made available, will be issued by two Greek banks operating in Albania; Alpha Bank and National Bank of Greece.
A U.S.-Turkish joint venture signed a 418 million euro contract with Albania in 2006 to build a 61-kilometer road segment, including a 6-kilometer tunnel, by June 2009. The road segment would be part of a 170-kilometer highway to Kosova, a U.N.-run province in Serbia that is more than 90 percent ethnic Albanian.
The road will run from the port city of Durres, 35 kilometers west of Tirana, to the town of Kukes, 200 kilometers northeast of Tirana, and then to the Morina border crossing point which, when finished, will reduce travel times to Kosovo from six to two hours.
The joint road venture includes Bechtel International Inc., based in San Francisco, USA, and Istanbul-based Enka.
Meanwhile last week, local media reported that construction along the road linking Albania with Kosova has left large piles of stones and mud that block traffic along the road in various places. Passengers on the route are also being confronted by falling rock.
Conditions are considered worst at Kthesa e Uzin쳬 where the Macedonia firm, Granit, is working. The firm has been hired to construct the highway’s longest bridge, totaling 360 meters in length. (Tirana Times Staff)