By Ilir Meta*
Today, when the Parliament hastily and through unprincipled attacks by representatives of the majority on the opposition MPs deepens its responsibility for the biggest mega-affair which is precisely the robbery of the Port of Durrës, Albania’s most strategic asset. The current prime minister, caught in the act as the organizer, approver and main beneficiary of the robbery of the Port of Durrës, is today under accusation in front of all Albanians because the facts speak for themselves, the facts are very serious and undeniable.
Firstly, the most important property from the strategic and economic point of view of Albania will be given to shell companies with hidden owners.
Therefore, with unknown owners, with unknown funds and whose origin is unknown.
Simply said, no Albanian knows in whose hands such a colossal property is ending up to.
Secondly, the project is not a strategic project but it is simply a construction project of buildings and apartments, since at the end of this whole project, only two hotels with 800 beds and a small marina with 280 parking spaces were built.
Thus, everything is oriented to the apartment business and the strategic property of the port of Durrës, the most important that Albania has, is for apartments.
Thirdly, hundreds of millions of euros in taxes will be pardoned, 820,000 square meters with a value of hundreds of millions of euros will be given away, while funds for other expropriations have also been provided, and all this will be done to build apartments.
Fourthly, the exemption from taxes is a flagrant violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, as it treats businesses of the same category in a differentiated and discriminatory way, so in Durrës, ordinary construction companies will pay 7% tax (4% for Infrastructure Impact Tax and 3% Social Housing Tax), while Edi Rama’s apartments will be exempt from this tax.
As it is clear from the Project Financing Plan, we are dealing with a clear and genuine money laundering scheme, because only 6.8% of the 2 billion Euro investment will be financed respectively: 3.4% from shareholders and 3.4 % from Banks.
In total, about 130 million euros.
While the rest, 93.2%, will be self-financed, that is, waiting for the apartments to be sold to continue the investment with the other apartments.
Although the European Union has been clear and decisive about the Golden passports, which seriously threaten the ban on the free movement of Albanian citizens in the EU, Edi Rama’s agreement provides that anyone who buys an apartment can be favored with an Albanian passport, that is, to move freely throughout the Schengen area.
Why is Edi Rama willing to sacrifice the free movement of Albanians?
The answer is clear, money laundering.
The European Union has been clear and firm that this project is in open conflict to the Stabilization and Association Agreement between Albania and the EU.
Why is Edi Rama fiercely against transparency and against the implementation of the association stabilization agreement, insisting on the hasty advancement of this mafia and non-transparent project?
Is there a lack of very powerful and serious investors in Europe who could invest seriously and transparently in the Port of Durrës?
What is the fate, when will it be built and is there a source of financing for the new cargo port that will have to be built and that costs at least over 1 and a half billion Euros?
The complete and intentional obscurity about this major issue, is to lose Albania this invaluable economic asset, such as the Port of Goods to help all those who have interests in the defactoring of Albania and the loss of its role as from the economic point of view, as well as from the political and geostrategic point of view.
It is very clear that the project is not at all strategic, it is not at all touristic, and it is not at all transformative for the touristic potential of the city, because it is clearly an apartment building business robbing Albania’s most strategic property.
It is time for justice to act as soon as possible and in depth for this mega affair which is already clear for everyone and we will go to the end and present new facts that we will make public. /Argumentum.al
*Ilir Meta is chairman of the Freedom Party and former President of Albania
