Berlusconi comes with billions of Euros

TIRANA, Dec 2 – Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi visited Albania while on a one-day trip on Tuesday during which agreements were signed for projects worth more than 2 billion Euros.
Among the projects agreed to were construction of a re-gasification plant in Fieri district, 62 miles, (100 kilometers) south of Tirana, to be operated by the Italian Campobasso-based group Falcione. Also, the Agrigento-based Moncada Energy Group S.r.l. will construct a large wind farm on the Karaburun peninsula 93 miles (150 kilometers) south-west of Tirana.
The regasification plant will cost 800 million Euros and will process liquid gas and also produce energy to be sold on the international market.
The wind farm is also a major project, expected to cost 1.2 billion Euros, including an underwater interconnection power line. It will produce 500 MGWs of power.
These mega projects, and others being planned, will supply all of Albania’s energy needs and also turn it into a regional energy source.
All the technical details and contracts were concluded and it was expected that both companies would soon agree to begin construction, which is supposed to take five years. The energy produced by both power plants would be sold on the international market, though primarily offered to Italy, but also offered to Albanian customers.
Falcione’s project seemed to run counter to a rival project proposed by ASG Power, a Swiss-based company run by Agim Gjinali, a Kosovar Albanian entrepreneur, that proposed a large-scale regasification plant that would take gas shipped from North Africa and Qatar and sell it to Italian and Albanian industries.
Berisha again brought up the idea of building a nuclear reactor in Albania, saying Italy would be the first partner in such a project.
Berlusconi, however, did not mention anything about a nuclear project.
Italian Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti said during Italy’s April parliamentary election campaign that nuclear plants could be built in Albania to supply energy-hungry, but nuclear-free, Italy. After winning the elections, the center-right government, of which Tremonti is part of, has said it will reintroduce atomic power in Italy following a two-decade ban.
The other agreements covered a cement factory, rehabilitation of a road segment and also strengthening cooperation on Albanian financial issues and labor market.
The other contract, worth 250 million Euros with the Italian company Colacem, was for a new cement plant while Rome would also invest in the rebuilding of a road segment at a cost of 35 million Euros.
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha also offered facilities and his executive’s support to the Italian businesses seeking to spend invest in Albania.
Berlusconi, for his part, pledged Italy would remain Albania’s primary partner in its European integration efforts, adding that some half million Albanian immigrants in Italy, including 85,000 school children and 18,000 university students, created a bridge of collaboration for both countries.
“Italy will be Albania’s lawyer in its asking for candidate status at the European Union … because I do believe that the integration of the Balkan region into the European family would provide a final end to the conflicts,“ he said at the news conference.
Negotiations also covered tourism, Italian support for small business and agriculture, education, culture and health systems and the countries’ `successful cooperation in the fight against organized crime.`
With 650 million Euros of aid, Italy has been one of the main donors to post-communist Albania, a small Balkan country that is hoping to join the European Union and NATO.
Berlusconi also met President Bamir Topi, Speaker Jozefina Topalli and main opposition Socialist Party leader Edi Rama.
Also, Albanian immigrants have opened some 15,000 businesses in neighboring Italy, according to Berlusconi. He further said that 75 percent of Albanian exports and 35 percent of its imports were with Italy.
Berlusconi also stressed that his country would be proud and honored to support Albania’s efforts for candidate status in the European Union, like the support it had offered for its membership invitation from NATO.