Journalist Artan Hoxha has accused former Deputy Prime Minister and former Energy Minister Belinda Balluku of directly intervening against the company “Delvina Gas.” According to him, the matter is even more serious because Balluku did not leave the actions to the relevant institutions, but went to the company’s premises herself.
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“It was Belinda Balluku herself, together with the regional police director, the director of the criminal police, the police station chief and the head of the National Inspectorate for Territorial Defense,” Hoxha said.
He said the intervention took place when “Delvina Gas” was close to beginning operations, after it had invested substantially in infrastructure for gas processing and exploitation. Later, according to the journalist, the reason for the action became clear: Ron Yeffet and people linked to Balluku wanted the company.
Hoxha argued that the Delvina gas field constitutes a national asset and is linked to national security. He stressed that the business and refinery established in the area were blocked by the Ministry of Energy, while Albania’s prime minister had signed a contract obliging the country to import $6 billion worth of liquefied gas. According to him, the gas would be brought to Vlora by a Greek company from the United States of America, while the problem remains that Albania has no facilities for using gas.
According to his account, after the Albanian shareholder acquired 90% of the company, invested in the project and built the refineries, the facility was ready to begin operations. The refineries use processes for filtering, packaging and transporting gas. On July 29, the media reported that the police, the Ministry of Energy, the National Inspectorate for Territorial Defense and the Environmental Inspectorate, in cooperation with the Vlora Police Directorate and the Saranda and Delvina police stations, had discovered an unlicensed thermal power plant.
Hoxha said it was a $100 million thermal power plant that was presented in the media as a facility built without a permit. The businessman was declared wanted, while the company’s administrator and two American engineers were arrested. The company, he said, is registered in the British Virgin Islands.
The journalist said that Belinda Balluku herself had gone to the entrance of “Delvina Gas,” together with the regional police director, the director of the criminal police, the police station chief, the head of the National Inspectorate for Territorial Defense and Dallëndyshe Bici. He added that he was not sure whether Minister Kumbaro had also taken part in the action, as this needed to be verified. According to him, all the possible inspectorates went to the company, and sealing tape was placed around the refinery.
Hoxha said the authorities presented the incident as the discovery of an unlicensed refinery under construction and declared the main shareholder wanted. He claimed that the aim was not to demand a bribe for the investment, but to take over the facility itself by pressuring the shareholder to surrender and leave.
At the same time as the refinery was blocked, according to Hoxha, the Special Prosecution Office (SPAK) launched an investigation into the businessman and included him in the Fier incinerator case, alongside Arben Ahmetaj. The journalist said the businessman was accused of helping Ahmetaj and that money-laundering charges were brought against him. In an official announcement on March 18 this year, SPAK said that the case against Arben Ahmetaj had been sent to trial and that the owner of “Delvina Gas” had been charged as a defendant.
Following this development, on March 26, the US ambassador to Albania, the chargé d’affaires and the Dutch ambassador appeared at the entrance to “Delvina Gas.” According to Hoxha, they went there in support of the company and to send a message that the proceedings should not continue. He said the shareholder also took other steps, involving a Dutch company and two American citizens, with the aim of preventing the property from being taken from him.
Hoxha also stated that the actions Ron Yeffet sought to carry out had been implemented through Belinda Balluku. According to him, on July 29 of last year, Balluku had given an interview at the entrance to the refinery. The interview has not been published, although the filming crew had been at the scene, and the moment was also recorded by the facility’s cameras.
He said the shareholder had been asked whether money had been demanded from him or whether he had offered money, but his answer was that it was not about money, because the aim was the facility. According to Hoxha, the shareholder had gone as far as the prime minister, who told him that he would not intervene in the matter and could not intervene with Balluku.
The journalist said that during the investigation into the story, the issue of the “Ukrainians” also arose, who later turned out to be connected to Ron Yeffet. He added that the Delvina gas field is projected to hold more than $2.5 billion in underground gas reserves and that it contains very high-quality gas with exceptionally high energy output. According to Hoxha, this is precisely what makes the area attractive and profitable, while the attempt to take the property is being carried out through the power of the authorities and by placing the shareholder in a vulnerable position.
