Saudi Arabia, possible sponsor of Albania’s new parliament

TIRANA, June 8 – Saudi Arabia may be the main source of funds for the building of the new parliament in the Albanian capital Tirana, stated local and international reports. Albanian officials have already gone to Saudi Arabia to discuss terms of the potential loan. Saudi Arabia has proposed a sum of SR600 million (110 million Euros). Albania’s new project will cover an area of 28,000 square meters at the same place where the “pyramid’– or the former museum for the late communist dictator Enver Hoxha– which now serves as an international cultural center. Sherefedin Shehu, a lawmaker of the governing Demcorats, unveiled some details of the parliament project to a Saudi media outlet last week when he was in Rhiyad together with three other colleagues. Albanian Parliament Speaker Jozefina Topalli is expected to make a visit there allegedly to sign the loan. The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) also funded the Tirana-Elbasan highway project with SR1.4 billion. Shehu acknowledged that Albania’s state budget is already overstretched because of the massive need for funds to support other necessary plans and projects. However, Tirana is asking for other funding from Saudi Arabia. Shehu said that Tirana had asked them to co-finance the SR2.2 billion “Rural Roads Project of Albania,” which will improve the quality of life in rural areas there. The IDB, OPEC Fund for Development, and a few international organizations including the World Bank are also donors.