Democratic Party Deputy Chairman Nikola Kedhi has accused the government over the way the Port of Durrës project was carried out, referring to a statement by investor Mohamed Alabbar, who admitted that the project was developed in haste.
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According to Kedhi, the government must answer to citizens about who decided to transform the Port of Durrës, who will be held responsible if arbitration proceedings result in costs to the state, and who will safeguard the interests of citizens who have invested in apartments in the project.
“When the investor himself admits that the project was rushed, someone must answer to Albanians: Who made the decision, who bears responsibility, and who will foot the bill? Who is accountable for leaving the country without its main port? Who pays if arbitration costs us hundreds of millions of euros in taxpayer money tomorrow? And who answers to the families who handed over their savings for apartments on paper?” Kedhi said.
He called on SPAK to launch an investigation into the project, demanding full transparency regarding the contract with the Alabbar group, including the arbitration clauses, deadlines, and obligations of the Albanian state.
“Once again, we call on SPAK to immediately launch an investigation into the biggest affair of recent years and to respond to Albanian citizens’ calls for action against corruption and the selling out of national interests. There can be no silence when a strategic national asset is handed over without competition, when the country is left without a port, and when citizens will face the hefty bill for the government’s anti-national decisions. This matter must be investigated thoroughly, and those responsible must be held accountable,” the Democratic Party deputy chairman declared.
Full statement
“I made a mistake in Albania. I built too quickly.” These words did not come from the opposition. They came from Mohamed Alabbar himself, the investor to whom Edi Rama handed over the Port of Durrës.
When the investor himself admits that the project was rushed, someone must answer to Albanians: Who made the decision, who bears responsibility, and who will foot the bill? Who is accountable for leaving the country without its main port? Who pays if arbitration costs us hundreds of millions of euros in taxpayer money tomorrow? And who answers to the families who handed over their savings for apartments on paper?
In 2021, the Port of Durrës, Albania’s main foreign trade gateway and a strategic asset for a NATO member country, was awaiting investment for its modernization. Instead of modernizing it, Edi Rama decided that the port should make way for a private project worth billions of euros.
Without a tender. Without competition. Without a public hearing.
One of Albania’s most strategic assets was treated as the prime minister’s private property. Today, several years later, the investor himself admits that he made a mistake.
It was widely touted that even Monaco would envy us, that tens of thousands of jobs would be created, and that billions of euros in investment would pour in. Meanwhile, the situation today is dramatic. The first buildings are sinking, according to Albanian institutions themselves, while the project’s financial model shows that a significant portion of the construction relies on money from buyers who have paid for apartments that do not yet exist.
All the risk and all the damage have been placed on the shoulders of Albanian citizens.
Above all, Albania is in an absurd situation: the existing port is paralyzed, while the alternative that was supposed to replace it does not exist. Porto Romano is another serious affair affecting Albanians’ money as well as their national security.
This is not merely a case of financial fraud. It is an economic, strategic, and national emergency.
The Democratic Party has repeatedly demanded transparency, an investigation, and the full publication of the contract with the Alabbar group, including the arbitration clauses, deadlines, and all the obligations of the Albanian state.
Once again, we call on SPAK to immediately launch an investigation into the biggest affair of recent years and to respond to Albanian citizens’ calls for action against corruption and the selling out of national interests.
There can be no silence when a strategic national asset is handed over without competition, when the country is left without a port, and when citizens will face the hefty bill for the government’s anti-national decisions. This matter must be investigated thoroughly, and those responsible must be held accountable.
Today, every Albanian faces two very clear visions for our country. On one side are concrete, cronyism, theft, depopulation, and the treatment of Albania as private property. On the other is our vision, our belief in a Productive Albania built on work, innovation, and meritocracy. We have an alternative for Durrës, Vlorë, and the entire Albanian economy that is diametrically opposed to Rama’s.
For us, a port is not land for high-rise buildings. A port is the gateway to an economic corridor. It is the Balkans’ gateway to Europe.
Our vision is the Interport: modern ports directly connected by rail and road to Tirana, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Corridor VIII, with container terminals, industrial and logistics zones, digitized customs services, and direct links to European markets.
This creates jobs in Durrës, Vlorë, Fier, Elbasan, and beyond. Jobs in logistics, transport, technology, processing, and industry. It enables Albanian farmers to get their produce to Europe more quickly and cheaply. It ensures that Albanian entrepreneurs are not crushed by transportation costs and bureaucracy.
Albanian products will not remain stuck in warehouses but will reach European markets. This is Productive Albania.
Where goods flow, factories open. Where factories open, jobs are created. And where there are jobs, competition, and prospects, people stay. This is the difference between the two models.
They see concrete. We see jobs, production, exports, and economic sovereignty.
They see clients. We see citizens, families, farmers, and entrepreneurs.
They saw the Port of Durrës as land for high-rise buildings. For us, the port is the economy of a nation.
The Port of Durrës does not belong to any prime minister or any investor. It belongs to Albanians. And together, we will return it to them.
