Abuses unveiled in Albania-Montenegro interconnection line

TIRANA, June 25 – Albania’s High State Audit says state owned Transmission System Operator OST and Power Corporation KESH abused around 1 million euro in procedures followed in the tendering and implementation of the Tirana-Podgorica interconnection line linking Albania to Montenegro. An audit covering the 2005-2011 period into the project funded by Germany’s KfW has unveiled penalties imposed by the lender for delays in procedures, violations with the selection of the consultant and other abuses all of which are reported to have caused the state budget financial damage of around 950,000 Euros.
The State Audit has also filed a lawsuit against the chief of the Market Administration Office.
The project, worth Euro 44 million was funded by KfW, and made operational in early 2011.
Germany’s KfW Entwicklungsbank provided some EUR 44 million to finance the construction on both sides of the border of the transmission line from Tirana to Podgorica, and the expansion of the pertinent sub-stations. Construction work on the line started in mid-2008, and was slated for completion in 2010, significantly improving electricity supplies in Albania. KfW financed training and advisory services which aimed to help operators on both sides of the border to make efficient use of the cross-border transmission capacities and to use the new capacities to their mutual benefit.
Germany’s KfW is also funding the Albania-Kosovo interconnection line which remains blocked by the Albanian authorities due to the huge difference between the winning bidder and the lowest bid submitted in the tender.