Government Wants $140 Million More For Rreshen-Kalimash Segment

TIRANA, Aug 17 – The government made known that the Rreshen-Kalimash road segment will need an additional 13 billion leks (about $140 million) to be completed.
Deputy Finance Minister Sherefedin Shehu said the money was needed this year to complete the next segment of the road.
The official further said the funds would be secured as loans from private banks or from the sale of the state-owned oil corporation.
The Rreshen-Kalimash segment began with a cost of 418 million euros, but soon increased to 100 million euro more before this last request.
A U.S.-Turkish joint venture signed a 418 million euro contract with Albania in October 2006 to build a 60-kilometer road segment, including a 6-kilometer tunnel, by June 2009. The road segment is part of a 170-kilometer highway to Kosova.
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.
The joint venture includes Bechtel International Inc., based in San Francisco, California, and Istanbul-based Enka.