Zumax AG to build a 1.18 bln euro container terminal in southwestern Albania

TIRANA, Jan 28 – The government has decided to give a 35-year concession to the British-Swiss Zumax AG group to build a 1.18 billion euro container terminal in southwestern Albania.
St. Gallen-based Zumax AG will build a container terminal at the Vlora port southwest of Tirana with a three-million container annual capacity.
Its construction is expected to begin in April or May this year after the government completes the formal documentation on the concession. Construction is to be completed in four years, according to Kevin Paja, the group’s representative in Tirana.
The group also has asked the government to complete the legal context for a free trade zone where the terminal is to be located and also for the possibility of building an airport in that area.
Paja said the group had already secured funding from British and other banks in countries where they are to operate.
“Following a two-year study, the group decided that Albania was the best option for a new terminal in the Mediterranean due to the depth of the Vlora port, its geographic position close to the shipping route passing through the Straits of Gibraltar and Suez Canal, the lack of heavy sea traffic and also the low flat tax of 10 percent applied by the government,” said Paja.
The group expects more than 4,000 companies to use the container terminal in a free trade zone.
In its website, Zumax AG said it had developed plans to construct a container terminal in the Port of Vlore, capable of handling in excess of 3 million TEU annually, along with development of an associated Free Zone industrial park that would be adjacent to the port. The container terminal is to be capable of receiving the largest container ships currently afloat. It is to serve as a transshipment hub and transit port to the region, as well as provide efficient sea access to the local community. The Free Zone industrial park is to be capable of providing land, facilities and services to support the development of light manufacturing and assembly activity in Vlore.
The Port of Vlore is a natural deepwater port situated in a large bay towards the southern end of the coast of the Republic of Albania. It is located in the Bay of Gjiri i Vlores.
Vlore is relatively close to the main east-west shipping route passing through the Straits of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal. The deviation required to reach Vlore from this main route is about 340 nautical miles, or 16 hours for the fast container ships currently in service.