TIRANA, July.24- the Albanian government has recently been involved in a debate with its donor organizations about the disbursement of funds related to road infrastructure and investments in large projects. The Albanian authorities have asked the World Bank and the EBRD to ease conditions and be more flexible in according funds to the administration. Sources form the Transport Ministry explain that donor requirements are often tedious and cannot soon be met by the Albanian government while, at the same time, these road projects are absolutely necessary for the country’s economy. The most recent case is that of the road segment of Levan-Vlor묠when even after the feasibility study was completed the EBRD asked for a supplementary environmental study, postponing the project indefinitely. Local officials note that donators are quite strict in asking for the fulfillment of requirements and sometimes the European standards they ask for are impossible in a country like Albania . Ironically, when European roads were built 50 years ago they did not have to be submitted to the strict requirements that are now required of Albania.
Funds
No less than 1 billion euros is the sum needed to complete the road infrastructure in Albania, a sum outlined by experts in the transportation Ministry, who also add that some other hundreds of million euros are needed for secondary roads. The latter are almost as necessary as the highways to ease the congestion on the main arteries. With these monies, the government is hoping, in the next 3-4 years, to build some crucial road segments such as Levan-Vlor묠FierTepelen묠Shkod청Hani i Hotit, Gjirokast청Tepelen묠and others.
The state budget can finance 40 percent of the needed money while the bulk, 60 percent, will come from foreign loans. The government’s next move might be to ask for these funds from the international commercial banking sector where interests are higher than those of institutions like WB or EBRD. The decision will be made in response to the very strict requirements and delays required by donor organizations. Albania continues to be the only country in the region whose road infrastructure is not up to international standards.
The story of the segment Fier-Tepelen덊
Just as EBRD had prepared the disbursement of funds financing the Fier-Tepelen롲oad segment, the Albanian government suddenly interrupted the process because Albanian road experts introduced to Prime Minister Berisha another route, starting from Rrogozhina, passing through Berat and finalizing in Tepelen뮠EBRD did not welcome the change and postponed the Levan-Vlor롰roject forcing the Prime Minster to retreat from this idea. This road would have cost 410 million euro.
