Klodian Tomorri
While Albanians were intoxicated the day before with propaganda about how an incorruptible algorithm would put an end to theft with public tenders and the prime minister grabbed the front pages of international media for his brilliant idea, on the other hand business, or rather the looting, continues as usual.
The Strategic Investment Committee led by Edi Rama has decided to give 25 hectares of the Pashalimani base to an Italian businessman who is currently being investigated by the Italian prosecution for fraudulent bankruptcy with damages of over 20 million euros. The businessman is called Dante Mazzitelli, a builder from Bari, who is also the owner of the Telebari television station.
In June 2021, Mazzitelli founded a company in Albania called Meta Resorts Albania. The company had its eye on one of the most coveted pearls of the Albanian coast, Pashaliman. And it succeeded.
In recent weeks, the Strategic Investment Committee approved the strategic investor status of the company Meta Resort Albania, granting the Italian businessman 25 hectares of state land, in an area that was protected by several laws at the same time. This is the area in the photo that is being granted to the company.
Circled in red, the area where the resort is located
In the decision to approve the status, the details of a seizure are revealed, which does not ask about either military property or cultural monuments.
Begaj took it out of the distribution plan
The entire area colored in pink, yellow and red was part of the Pashaliman base, a territory of 114 hectares. The middle part, the one colored in yellow, is the shipyard. But in February of this year, through a secret decree, President Bajram Begaj removed the entire area surrounded by the red line from the Armed Forces Deployment Plan.
Circled in red, the area is taken from the February Distribution Plan by Begaj
It is about an area of over 70 hectares. The resort, which the Italian will build, is located on the hill seen in the photo and extends over an area of 25 hectares.
"The targeted footprint, in addition to being protected by special legislation, is also part of the inventory list of properties under the administrative responsibility of the Ministry of Defense. The footprint affects property no. 1314, named "Former Southern Naval Flotilla", Pashaliman, Vlora, but is not part of the Deployment and Deployment Plan of the Armed Forces, approved by Decree of the President of the Republic, no. 24, dated 03.02.2025," the decision of the Strategic Investment Committee states.
Part of the decision on Strategic Status
The resort will be built on several important military facilities, as confirmed by the Strategic Status decision itself.
"Within the targeted investment area, there is building no. 25, which is used by the Land Force Command, the Substation and the Electrical Cabin, from which the Pashaliman Naval Base is supplied with electricity, and is in common use as the main access road to the Shipbuilding and Repair Yard (SDR), the Southern Maritime District (SMD) and private entities that carry out various activities on the Karaburun peninsula," the decision states.
But the country's defense capabilities are insignificant in the face of insatiable appetites. The country's president, the man who should guarantee the operationality of the Navy, notarizes the alienation of properties for the construction of resorts and secretly signs the exclusion of military properties from the Expansion Plan.
Furthermore, there is a report to SPAK about this area from the former deputy commander of the Fleet, Artur Meçollari, who had foreseen the seizure of the property since 2016, when through a trick, the Pashaliman Base was divided into four properties, shrinking its area to only 14 hectares.
Protected Area
But the alienation of military property is not the resort's only legal problem. The entire resort's footprint lies in a protected area of the first category. "The intended footprint overlaps the ancient city of Orikum, and the Lagoon to its southeast. The Ancient City of Orikum has been declared an Archaeological Park. The latter has the status of Cultural Monument Category I," the decision of the Strategic Investment Committee acknowledges.
Beyond this, the trail also touches Cape St. George, which is part of the protected area of the Managed Nature Reserve (NMR) "Karaburun" (category IV).
But despite all these legal prohibitions, the Strategic Investment Committee did not hesitate at all in approving the project. "In conclusion, after reviewing all the necessary documentation, the Strategic Investment Committee decided to approve the Status "Investment/Strategic Investor Assisted Procedure" for the investment project "Pashaliman Laguna Eko Resort", with the subject "Meta Resorts Albania"," the decision states.
The Shadow of D'Alema
Years ago, the media in Italy sparked a real controversy when they published a photo of former Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema on vacation in Saint Moritz. The photo showed D'Alema, Dante Mazzitelli, and their wives.
D'Alema and Mazzitelli with their spouses on vacation in Saint Moritz
At the time, newspapers wrote that D'Alema had been on a winter vacation at the Bernina Hotel, owned by Dante Mazzitelli and his family. It is not known whether after the Italian businessman's success in acquiring one of the most beautiful, but at the same time most difficult and almost legally impossible areas, it was dedicated to D'Alema.
Last summer, Italian media published news that D'Alema intended to build a resort on the Albanian coast of Vlora.
"For some time now, rumors have been circulating in Tirana about the activities of the former Italian prime minister in that country. Some of these have to do with the attempt to unite a consortium of Italian entrepreneurs to participate in a tender signed by Albanian President Edi Rama for the construction of a large tourist village in the Vlora area a few kilometers from the new airport which should open in 2024," Enrico Mentana's Open wrote at the time.
But the news was denied by D'Alema's accountant in Tirana, a person named Majlinda Haloçi. And yet an Italian was in Pashaliman, washing the pearl of the Albanian coast, for free.
Editorial
