TIRANA, April 14 – Albania’s Competition Authority has unveiled lack of transparency in ticket prices charged by the small number of operators controlling the maritime transport of passengers and motor vehicles in Albania’s ports.
Following a probe into this market in the January 2013-August 2014 activity, the competition watchdog has recommended the Transport Ministry, which is responsible for this market, to draft a methodology which will determine the real costs on the maximum tariffs charged for international maritime transport of passengers and motor vehicles.
The Authority also suggests that the licensing process also includes maximum tariffs operators can charge on low or high season.
“Market operators must also be obliged to keep a record of their ticket prices and number for a period of three years and that the data is accessible by licensing and market monitoring structures so that they can be compared to the maximum tariffs.
Maritime transport of passengers and motor vehicles is carried out through the ports of Durres, Vlora and Saranda by seven ferry companies in a highly concentrated market mainly targeting the Italian ports of Bari, Brindisi, Ancona and Trieste. The Saranda Port, in southernmost Albania, offers trips to and from Corfu Port, Greece.
The Durres, Vlora and Saranda ports handled around 1.1 million passengers in 2014, up 8.4 percent compared to 2013 with the biggest Durres Port accounting for more than two-thirds of total passengers.
