President Meta returned today the concession of the Tirana International Airport back to Parliament, with the motivation that the extension with 13 years of the concession is “unconstitutional.” “The Parliament has changed the concession agreement of the “Mother Teresa” International Airport. This law has the highest level of unconstitutionality, but also of the legislative corruption in our government and our one-party parliament,” said the President. Meta then explained more in details the problems regarding the concession: “What is happening is that the 13-year term […] which is extended after 6 years, when the concession would end […] is in itself more than half of the total term of the initial contract, which is 22 years, a contract that was made through an open competition and negotiations, while actually is being postponed for another 13 years without any kind of competition,” said the President.
According to Meta, the law is against the rules and interests of the Albanian people, and that is why “the new contract of the concession was kept secret. This is scandalous and illegal.” Meta emphasized how until now the extension of the concession agreement has not been published online. The President then made public some of the elements of the agreement, demonstrating how it the government only one day to examine, sign the agreement and propose it to the Parliament for approval.
Kastrati Group, the biggest group in Albania, bought in December 2020 the concession of Tirana International Airport, with a value of 71 million euro, from the Chinese “Real Fortress Private Limited”. The deal made Kastrati the only owner of the only airport in Albania, since they bought 100% of the shares from the Chinese company. In January, the government approved the extension of the concession contract of Tirana International Airport for another 13 years after. According to Meta, the company “clearly had all the guarantees from the government that the concession would be extended before buying all the shares” of the airport.
