TIRANA, Jan. 12 – The Albanian government has announced a tender to rent some former military tunnels outside Tirana for mushroom cultivation following successful commercial farming in several areas in Albania.
In an announcement published on the latest Public Procurement Agency bulletin, the economic development ministry said it will award five tunnels with a total surface of about 1,500 m2 in Babrru, outside Tirana, under a 20-year lease contract for mushroom cultivation.
The economy ministry has set a price tag of 44,370 lek (€316) monthly rent for the five facilities currently managed by the defense ministry. The winner of the tender scheduled for Jan. 18 will also be determined based on the amount of investment and jobs created.
Mushroom cultivation has emerged as a new opportunity for Albanian farmers with modern farms such as the Divjaka Mushroom already successfully producing under modern techniques.
Both military tunnels and bunkers built during the communist era are attracting more and more attention in Albania’s tourism industry as legacy of the 45-year communist regime led by late Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha who had a phobia about a possible foreign invasion and fortified Albania with tunnels and some 700,000 bunkers.
