Klodian Tomorri
Last summer, American media widely broadcast a viral video. Footage taken from a home security camera showed two thieves physically fighting over a package that had just been delivered to a family's yard.
What is happening at Vlora airport is practically the same thing, only in a more sophisticated form. Here, the robbers are not fighting to steal packages of clothes or perfumes purchased online, but are fighting for shares worth hundreds of millions of euros. And they are doing this publicly, without a shred of shame.
Imagine for a moment that "Porch Pirates" in the US were fighting in the media or even accusing each other in court over the packages they loot from American family yards. And the question that naturally arises is where do the looters find the courage to publicly fight over the loot they have stolen from Albanians?
Here the explanation is a bit complex and relates to the philosophy of how Albania is governed. In 13 years of socialist misrule, Albania has transformed into a country that has completely annihilated competition in every sector of public life.
The point is, job appointments are not made on the basis of professional merit, but on the basis of political patronage. Public tenders are not won through competition between businesses, but through their connections with the government. Public assets are not distributed through competition, but by the prime minister eating meatballs on the veranda. And so on.
Therefore, the Albanian economy today has only one competitive sector, which is teeming with competition. This is theft, which the Prime Minister defines as the phenomenon of eating apples and plums behind his back. The thieves fought publicly for the stolen loot at the incinerators and are now fighting publicly in court for the stolen loot at the airport. Because the Vlora airport is an affair, the smoke of which has already spread to Istanbul.
First, it is a procedural matter. The moment Belinda Balluku signed the document approving the sale of shares from the Turks of Yda Group to Behgjet Pacolli, the Vlora airport tender collapsed. Because the Turks were the only ones in the winning consortium who met the expertise criteria. This turned the entire tender into a fictitious, manipulated procedure, as the expertise criterion in airport management has prevented many other companies from competing and offering more favorable prices for Albanian citizens.
Secondly, it is a contractual affair. Before Behgjet Pacolli and Valon Ademi, the Albanian government tried to bring together a group of three large Turkish companies for the construction of the Vlora airport. Cengiz, Kaylon and Kolin negotiated for several months with the Albanian government, but their offer was rejected by Damian Gjiknuri and Arben Ahmetaj. The reason for the rejection was because the Turks requested 120 million euros in traffic guarantees. But later, the Albanian government accepted Pacolli and Ademi's offer with 140 million euros in traffic guarantees.
What does this mean? That Vlora Airport is practically a zero-risk business for construction companies. According to the business plan, the construction of the airport will cost about 100 million euros. Meanwhile, construction companies are guaranteed 140 million euros in revenue for the first 10 years, even if no planes fly over Vlora airport. If there are no planes, there is money from the state budget. This is the traffic guarantee.
Behgjet Pacolli, who is not ashamed to publicly argue about the looted loot, certainly has no shame in saying that Albanian citizens will not pay a single penny for the construction of the Airport. But he only says this publicly. Because in private he says that he has never gotten a contract anywhere as good as the one for the Vlora airport, where money is earned safely even by doing nothing.
The problem now is that Behgjeti has become so greedy that he is not releasing the part he agreed to when he was awarded the tender. That is the whole conflict of the Vlora airport. Those stories with Russian and Chinese agents are simply spicy garnish to the s*t that has erupted in Vlora. But the irony at the Vlora Airport is great and very tragic.
The looters fight in court to divide the stolen loot, while the public interest has been left orphaned and the looted, who are the citizens, remain silent.
Editorial
