The Special Prosecution Office is verifying several money transfers made by the company 4 AM outside Albania. SPAK prosecutors suspect that these money transfers may be related to Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku, while the verifications are in progress.
But how did 4 AM transform from nothing to one of the state's largest contractors? The genesis of success begins with Albcontrol.
Although initially seen as a company linked to the Democratic Party due to the Tropoja origin of its owners, in 2012 the 4 AM company was only a modest enterprise with a turnover of around 3.3 million euros. But with the coming to power of the Socialists, the company owned by Ardit Metaliaj and his brothers began to climb at lightning speed, transforming into one of the biggest sharks of public funds.
In 2014-2015, 4 AM received several important contracts at Albcontrol, during the time when this institution was headed by Belinda Balluku. This was apparently the starting point of a special relationship, which would strengthen even more in the following years, as Balluku's power grew exponentially.
In 2018, the company's turnover reached 20 million euros. A year later, in January 2019, Belinda Balluku was appointed to head the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy. And the future of 4 AM could not be anything other than bright.
In 2020, the company achieved an annual turnover of 30 million euros. But as Balluk's power was further consolidated, so did the flow of budget money towards 4 AM. In 2021, the company collected 43 million euros and in the last 3 years its turnover has been consolidated at the level of 50 million euros per year.
The strong growth of 4 AM
The vast majority of this money came from the Albanian Road Authority, KESH and OSHEE, three institutions directly subordinate to Belinda Balluku.
In business circles that carry out public infrastructure work, there was often talk about several companies favored by the Ministry of Infrastructure. They were 4 AM of Metaliajve, 2T of Sakove, and Alko Impex.
These are three companies, which grew exponentially with the arrival of Belinda Balluku at the head of the Ministry of Infrastructure, reaching a combined turnover of up to 130 million euros per year. It is no coincidence that all three companies are also involved in the tenders for the Grand Ring Road, for which SPAK announced a day ago that it had placed Balluku under investigation.
4 AM was the winner of the second lot together with Ed Konstruksion and IDK Konstruksion worth 25 million euros, while 2T and Alko Impex received the seventh lot contract worth 23.5 million euros, in the big Ring Road cake which SPAK suspects was all divided up with fictitious and predetermined tenders.
But as the investigations into the Deputy Prime Minister continue and SPAK has requested in Parliament the lifting of her immunity, one of their main leads is the suspicious money flows and transfers that companies with special status have made outside Albania.
Editorial
