In a statement to the media from the Special Prosecution Office, lawyer Adriana Kalaja spoke about the scheme used to set up photovoltaic parks through fictitious companies, involving Belinda Balluku and her subordinates Maksim Ethemaj and the latter’s sister, Eva Kajer.

The scandal

Maksim Et’hemaj, a figure not very well known to the public, is nevertheless one of Belinda Balluku’s key people when it comes to getting things done, mainly in the field of Civil Aviation, where Balluku herself has long experience. Maksim Et’hemaj is currently Executive Director of the Albanian Civil Aviation Authority and has 22 years of experience in air traffic management. But Et’hemaj’s experience, thanks to his strong ties with Balluku, or those of his relatives, has also proven successful in contracts with the government. According to the “Rilindja” standard, close associates of “Boss Bela” are rewarded with licenses signed by her.

Plug investigation

In October 2020, the company “GREEN PLUS ENERGY” was established, with citizen Eva Kjaer as shareholder and citizen Gjergj Pano as administrator. Scope of activity: implementation and management of electricity generation projects, photovoltaic energy, and all other types of energy production and auxiliary works throughout the territory of Albania. So the activity chosen by the woman who lives outside Albania and works professionally as a head chef is energy production through photovoltaic plants. Eva Kjaer, the chef with ambitions to invest in the energy sector, turns out to be the sister of Civil Aviation Director Maksim Et’hemaj, while citizen Gjergj Pano is the brother of Maksim Et’hemaj’s wife.

These were apparently sufficient data for, on April 28, 2023, the Ministry of Infrastructure to grant the contract “For the construction, use and administration of a photovoltaic electricity generation plant, with a production capacity of 2 MW, and auxiliary works, in the Topojë Administrative Unit, Fier Municipality, Fier County,” where Belinda Balluku is still the political leader of the area.

The permit

In record time, just one month later, the permit signed by Belinda Balluku also received the seal of the KKT, which approved the development permit. So all this urgency was to approve this lucrative contract for Director Et’hemaj’s sister, for a company that has no income and 0 m2 of land in its ownership.

Two months after the development permit was approved by the KKT, in July 2023, Eva Kjaer decided to sell 40% of the shares to company 4 A-M for the value of 40,000 lek. Up to this point, anyone would think this was a normal business relationship, but the company’s balance sheets tell a different story. In the 2020 balance sheet, it is shown that the company has 34,500,000 lek in its account, which according to the explanations is reflected as an advance guarantee for the performance of works.

This considerable amount is not a contribution from the company’s partner, and it is not identified who prepaid it. For the years 2021 and 2022, this amount remained unchanged in the bank account. The balance sheets for 2021 and 2022 also reflect another payment, that made to the Municipality of Fier for leasing the land.

Specifically, in 2021, 221,000 lek was paid in land rent and in 2022, 121,000 lek was paid. A ridiculous rental value of 120 euros per month for 30,000 m2 of land, according to the specifications in the study submitted to the KKT. In the 2023 balance sheet, it is finally identified who the benefactor was that gave about 340,000 euros interest-free for 3 years to the company of the Civil Aviation Director’s sister, who had previously held the important post at ANTA of General Technical Director. According to the data, the 34,500,000 value is no longer presented as a prepayment but as a loan given by partner 4 A-M shpk.

SPAK should investigate

Put more simply, the director’s sister decided she wanted to enter the energy business in Albania despite having spent decades in emigration and working as a cook by profession. To fulfill this wish, because money and guarantees were needed, the generous company 4 A-M and the Municipality of Fier came to her aid. One benefactor with money, the other a benefactor with state land. But is this a coincidence? At the time when 4 A-M was being generous with the sister’s company, ANTA awarded it 3 tenders worth 500 thousand euros. Specifically, in 2018, ANTA and 4 A-M signed a contract for “Purchase of specific AC according to the needs of the Technical Department” with a value of 2.5 million lek. In April 2019, in a non-competitive tender marked with a red flag, 4 A-M received 29.3 million lek for “Maintenance expenses and purchase of spare parts for systems installed in the Administration.” And at the end of 2021, it received another tender worth 20.5 million lek, again without competition and with a red flag. All these procedures obtained by 4 A-M from ANTA (ALBCONTROL), worth 500,000 euros, came during the period when the Director of the Technical Directorate was precisely Eva Kjaer’s brother, citizen Maksim Et’hemaj. We do not want to accuse anyone, but these actions raise reasonable suspicions that SPAK should investigate. Another issue found in this project is the land category, which does not allow approval for the construction of a Photovoltaic Plant, because according to the project it is simply “sandy land” without specifying the category. This penal fact is found widely in the contracts signed by Balluku for Albania the Energy Superpower.

Et’hemaj’s name in the “Balluku” file

SPAK’s investigation shows that the housing units in the “White Rocks” complex in Dhërmi began to be handed over to persons interested in living there in June 2019. From the moment the villa was taken over, it appears to have been used regularly by Belinda Balluku. Meanwhile, from the examination of expert report No. 203 dated October 8, 2024, of the “Blackberry” mobile phone seized from Viola Haxhiademi, it appears that on June 21, 2019, on the “Whats App” application, Belinda Balluku, who used the mobile number “069604XXXx”, created a group titled “Dhërmi.” This group included Belinda Balluku, Viola Haxhiademi, Matilda Kërçaku, Maksim Et’hemaj and Alketa Pano. It has emerged that the communicating persons added to the group by Belinda Balluku — officials Viola Haxhiademi, Matilda Kërçaku, Maksim Ethemaj and Alketa Pano — have housing units in the “White Rocks” 1 complex in Dhërmi. The group was titled “Dhërmi” because of the location of these housing units, and it was created so that the above officials could coordinate with one another while they were at the complex. It is suspected that Et’hemaj also has a villa in this complex, obtained through corruption in cooperation with Balluku./ GAZETA SOT

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