The show "On Target"

On November 29, 2020, the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa, would be painted Red and Black. The video was also shared on social networks by Prime Minister Edi Rama, who thanked the company 'Emmar' of the entrepreneur from the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed Alabbar, for this great honor that it was doing Albania. The display of the Albanian flag on the tallest tower on the planet did not raise any doubt that an agreement would be hidden behind it, which would leave Albania without a port.

Mohamed Alabbar was an unknown name for Albania until the marketing of the Albanian flag in Dubai through the tower built by Alabbar would perhaps make Albanians develop a sympathy for the Arab entrepreneur.

In order to further enter the hearts of Albanians, Alabbar also appeared as a philanthropist, where he undertook to implement a project by the United Arab Emirates for the construction of over 900 apartments in Spitalë, which would be given to residents affected by the earthquake of November 26, 2019.

Accompanied by Edi Rama and Arben Ahmetaj, two weeks after the spectacle at the Burj Khalifa, Alabbar arrived in the Durrës swamp to build housing for those affected by the earthquake. But as the people say, 'honor is washed with honor', this advertisement for Albania also hid an honor that no Albanian would have imagined.

Belinda Balluku discovered this honor when on August 10, 2022, just tanned from that summer's beach, cabinet ministers led by Prime Minister Edi Rama chose to break their vacation to sign the cooperation agreement between the government and the 'Eagle Hills' company for the 'Durrës Marina' project.

So, this statement by Belinda Balluku confirms that the project to close the port of Durrës and transfer it to Porto Romano had started long before the Albanian flag was displayed on the Burj Khalifa tower. In fact, the negotiations had gone through various stages, including the cabinet ministers' dinner at Nusret's restaurant in Dubai. At that time, the chairman of the DP, Lulzim Basha, on January 10, 2021, published a video showing the cabinet ministers having dinner at the luxurious restaurant.

Basha accused the government of spending on luxury while the country was being flooded by heavy rains. While the government justified itself by saying that the money for the beef steak dinner at Nusret's had been paid for by Arab friends.

Edi Rama
'Inform yourself so that you don't speak negatively, because they didn't even go for fun, as they didn't spend any of your taxes on this case, as all expenses were covered by the host party, which is one of the largest groups in the world, interested in investing in Albania'.

The Prime Minister was right. The ministers were not there for fun, they were there to negotiate with Alabbar for the release of the port of Durrës. This was proven in April 2021, when at a meeting at the container terminal, in the presence of hundreds of Durrës residents, Edi Rama presented them with the Albanian Dubai, which according to him would be a 2 billion euro investment by Alabbar during the construction phase alone.

Edi Rama
The new tourist port, among the largest in the Mediterranean, will inject 2 billion euros during construction alone by the large global company 'Emaar Group' and will change the structure of the new Albanian Tourism industry. The impact of this investment, carried out by the company that built the Dubai Port and is responsible for the most spectacular constructions in the United Arab Emirates, and in many countries around the world, will fundamentally change the economy of the Durrës region and will create an economic chain effect on the entire Albanian coast, where the construction of the New Tourist Port of Saranda has begun, the construction of the New Tourist Port of Vlora will begin by June, and according to the 2021-2025 Plan, the construction of the New Tourist Port of Shëngjin will begin within 2023.

Events were finalized when, on January 30, 2023, the agreement for the development of 'Durrës Marina' was signed, which officially paved the way for work on the construction of facilities at the Port of Durrës.

And while Alabbar was being given the current Port of Durrës, in her speech to the citizens, Belinda Balluku tried to justify herself with the construction of the Port of Porto Romano, which according to her had attracted the interest of over 40 foreign investors.

But, the show 'Në Shënjestër' is not returning to that affair, after denouncing it a few weeks ago. The port of Porto Romano is today a failed project, while the fact is that in Durrës the perimeter of operation in the current port is narrowing every day.

'DURRËS MARINA' COMPANY
On the same day that the agreement for the development of 'Durrës Yacht Marina' was signed, the creation of the company 'Durrës Marina' was also signed. So, on January 30, 2023, while it was registered in the Central Register of Companies on February 23, 2023. The shareholders of the company were the company 'Eagle Hills Real Estate Development' shpk, owned by citizen Mohamed Ali Rashed Alabbar, and the company 'Albanian Seaports Development Company' owned by the Port of Durrës. The shares were divided 67% for the Alabbar company and 33% for the company owned by the Durrës Port Authority.

The Board of Directors of the 'Durrës Marina' company consisted of Rauf Muhammad, Mostafa Monir Mostafa Elkady and Elisabeta Hajuralli, as representatives of 'Eagle Hills' and Elira Kokona and Ermal Nufi as representatives of the Strategic Investment Agency.

The state-owned company, 'Albanian Seaports Development Company', owned by the Durrës Port Authority, was founded with a share capital of 10 million lek, but in 2024, the capital was increased to 11.9 million lek, bringing the total to 21.9 million lek or about 220 thousand euros.

Members of the supervisory board of the state-owned company, which became a shareholder in the Durrës Yacht Marina, were initially: Alket Malo, Pirro Vengu, Andrea Shllaku, Aleks Marku and Rafaelo Rexho, while until September 2025, the members were changed several times.

But let's get back to the core of our investigation, money!

The founding capital of the company 'Durrës Yacht Marina' was only 3.5 million lek, or about 35 thousand euros.

According to the table you see on the screen, the company owned by the Port of Durres, 'Albanian Seaports Development Company', has paid 1,155 thousand lek in cash or about 11,550 euros for the capital, while Mohamed Alabbar's 'Eagle Hills' has paid the difference of 23,450 euros.

Up to this point, it is worth noting that the company 'Durrës Marina' received only 35 thousand euros from shareholders as share capital in 2023, while the sales were made much earlier, before the construction permits or the concession contract itself for taking over the port of Durrës were approved.

On May 5, 2023, by decision of the general assembly of shareholders, the capital increase was approved in the amount of 745,080,000 lek, which is the equivalent value in lek of the increase of 7,000,000 euros, through cash contributions.

The capital after the increase became 748,580,000 lek. On October 17, 2025, by decision of the general assembly of shareholders, the capital increase was approved to the amount of 580,920,000 lek, the lek equivalent of 6,000,000 euros, through the contribution of the partner 'Eagle Hills Real Estate Development'.

After the increase, the company's capital became 1,329,500,000 lek.

So currently the company's capital is around 13 million euros.

This is money that did not come from the investor's pockets, as the capital injection was made after the company started selling apartments.

Simply put, Mohamed Alabbar, so far, has not taken any money out of his pocket to develop the 'Durres Marina' project.

He has simply collected citizens' money from the sale of apartments, and is investing it in the project.

In this way, Alabbar not only avoids the risks posed by the project from a financial point of view, since even if the project fails in the future, Alabbar loses nothing, since he has not invested his money.

But even though the company had not yet been established, even though the construction permits had not yet been granted, Mohamed Alabbar began collecting money from the sales of 'air' apartments in the 'Yacht Marina' in Durrës.

We recall that the law approving the agreement between the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania and 'Eagle Hills Real Estate Development', 'Albanian Seaports Development Company' sh.a., and 'NSHMI Development' LLC, for the strategic investment project 'Durres Marina & Yachts' was also approved in the parliament on November 24, 2022, at the same time that the sales had started.

Also, sales began while this law was the subject of an appeal to the Constitutional Court, which would issue a decision in favor of the project, but with voices against it, which we will discuss later.

For the first two years of activity, 2023 and 2024, where 'Durrës Marina' has submitted its balance sheets to the National Business Center, it turns out that the company has collected around 60 million euros from apartment sales, although it turns out that none of them have yet been delivered to customers.

Specifically, for 2023 'Durrës Marina' collected around 1.8 billion lek from the sale of apartments, or around 22 million euros, while for 2024 sales reached 4.1 billion lek or around 44 million euros.

In other words, around 66 million euros in revenue from the sale of apartments in the air, while none of the apartments have yet been delivered to the clients.

The company, for the two years that it has submitted its balance sheets to the Central Bank, declares a loss of around 10 million euros, as the profit will only be declared after the apartments are delivered to the people who purchased them in advance.

On the other hand, referring to the balance sheets of 2023 and 2024, the investment value until December 31, 2024, was one third of the income collected for the sale of apartments that are in process.

Specifically, according to the balance sheets, it turns out that the works in progress for 2023 amounted to 789 million lek, while for 2024 this amount reached 3.4 billion lek, or about 35 million euros.

In other words, while citizens have given Alabbar around 66 million euros for the first two years of the apartment purchase project, the investor from the United Arab Emirates has invested no more than 43 million euros for the same period.

Therefore, based on this trend, the prediction is that investor Arban, at the moment of reconciling the balance sheets and handing over the apartments, could result in profit rates that reach more than double the investment value.

But how interested Albanians are in buying apartments in 'Durrës Marina', the company's balance sheets come to our aid again.

Under the item of consulting expenses, the company states that for 2023 it has spent around 2.4 million euros on advertising alone and in 2024 the amount spent is around 1.8 million euros.

So, in just two years, Alabbar has spent over 4.4 million euros on advertising from the money it received from citizens for the purchase of apartments.

In fact, ironically but true, the amount spent on advertising is much greater than the total salaries of the staff.

According to the balance sheets, for two years, the company has spent about 3.6 million euros in net salaries for employees, who in fact should be one of the main items of expenditure, as they have to work to deliver apartments on time to citizens who have paid millions of euros to purchase properties. For 2023, the company declares 24 employees, with a total gross salary of about 1 million euros.

While by December 31, 2024, the number of employees will be around 49 people. However, the company 'Symphony Real Estate Development', created specifically by Alabbar to be a shareholder in 'Durrës Marina', when it received the status of Strategic Investor in 2021, has declared that over 1200 people will be employed during the construction phase.

So, it remains to be verified whether the number of employees has reached 1200, including subcontractors who are carrying out the physical work?!

From open data, this figure appears not to have been achieved, raising suspicions of a violation of one of the criteria for obtaining strategic investor status, which we will discuss in more detail below..

DURRES PORT PROCEDURE
The history of the granting of the Port of Durres for the construction of a yacht marina began early in the first mandate when the socialists came to power. On November 25, 2015, the Albanian government approved an agreement with the United Arab Emirates for the promotion and protection of investments. Article 3, point 1, provided for the promotion and creation of favorable conditions by each party for investors of the other party to make investments in its territory as well as the acceptance of these investments in accordance with the relevant regulations.

In 2020, the Assembly ratified the agreement: 'On economic cooperation between the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania and the Government of the United Arab Emirates', according to the text attached to this law, an integral part of it.

Article 6 of the agreement has defined, among other things, the list of specific projects that are considered of a strategic nature in fulfilling the objectives of this agreement and previous economic and cooperation agreements between the two parties, specifically: the redevelopment of the Port of Durres; investment opportunities in the tourism, agriculture and logistics industries in Vlora, Saranda and Ksamil; investments in the field of tourism in the Përmet area.

Also according to this article, contracts, programs and strategic projects agreed upon, in accordance with this agreement, will not be subject to any of the parties to public procurement, public tender, public competitive procedure or any other procedure defined in the national legislation of the Republic of Albania or the EBA after its ratification.

At that time, this agreement was sent to the Constitutional Court by the opposition, which requested its repeal.

But the Constitutional Court deemed the agreement legal, leaving it in force.

In 2021, the Albanian Investment Development Agency, under the signature of Edi Rama, granted the status of strategic investor for the investment project 'Durrës Yachts & Marina', as an integrated tourist project of strategic importance for the country, conditional on the implementation of the tasks, the action plan provided for in this decision, as well as the finalization of an agreement on the form of cooperation between the parties, valid according to applicable legal provisions.

According to this decision, the project will be developed on an area of ​​approximately 79 ha, in the Port of Durres area, divided into 2 development phases and will be implemented by the applicant entity 'Symphony Real Estate Development' sh.pk, as an integrated project with a tourist port and elite accommodation structures, high-standard residences and services in their function.

The decision also provides for support measures to be provided for the development of the project.

On December 29, 2021, the government transferred 80.9 ha of land in the port of Durres to the Ministry of Finance, with the aim of giving the property to the investor.

On July 18, 2022, the Strategic Investment Committee amended the decision for 'Durrës Marina', extending the strategic investor status to 15 years from the 7 years foreseen in the initial decision.

Also in 2022, the Parliament approves the framework agreement between the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania and 'Eagle Hills Real Estate Development', 'Albanian Seaports Development Company', sh.a. and 'Nshmi Development' LLC, for the strategic investment project 'Durres Marina & Yachts'.

In Article 2 of the agreement, the government decides to not only grant public property to Mohamed Alabbar, but also to exempt him from paying infrastructure taxes and contributions to social housing.

LAW
Article 2
Special regime in implementation of the agreement
The joint venture for the implementation of the 'Durres Marina & Yachts' project is exempted from the obligation to pay the infrastructure impact tax for new constructions and the social housing contribution, according to the legislation in force on the local tax system and the legislation in force on social housing. The value of the exempted obligation is part of the Albanian state's contribution to the investment, according to the agreement set out in Article 1 of this law.

Not only that, but the scandal deepens even further, as in the explanatory report, the government does not specify how much the state will benefit from the agreement with Mohamed Alabbar for the construction of Durrës, stating that the state will benefit from this agreement, but without specifying the value.

relationship
The state will benefit from participating in this investment. The state participation is proposed at such levels that do not eliminate or significantly reduce the operational risk borne by the investor. Regardless of the actions of the private shareholder, the state shareholder's quota will not be affected. The land, coast, and corresponding sea, state property that is inalienable to private ownership even after development, will be subject to modern processes of environmental and physical cleanup. Private and public properties around the area, subject to development, will experience a significant increase in value as they will be located in an area close to a modern and luxurious development. Port activity will not be interrupted or hindered during the project phases.

The report also states that the Project will be developed in two phases, relatively separate from each other in space and time, but which will be integrated at the end of the project.

The budget/investment cost of the project is estimated to be 2 081 347 054 (two billion eighty-one million three hundred forty-seven thousand fifty-four euros). The total investment in phase 1 is estimated to be 595 256 904 and for phase 2, 1 486 090 150.

So, based on this data, when only 43 million euros were invested in the first two years, with a simple calculation, the investment of 2 billion euros for the construction of the 'Yacht Marina' in Durrës will require several dozen years.

So, citizens who are buying apartments in Durrës today, where in just 2 years (referring to the 2024 balance sheets, about 66 million euros have been spent), citizens will be able to enjoy the Yacht Marina, i.e. their apartments, only after at least 50-70 years.

But let's get back to the Constitutional Court's decision. The lawsuit filed with the Constitutional Court lists a series of factors as to why this agreement should be overturned.

In point 14.11.2, financial estimates are given where, according to the decision of the constitutional court, this project will cost the state hundreds of millions of euros.

constitutional Court
The project is associated with large financial costs for the state. The value of the 'forgiven' public land amounts to 124 million euros, while the plot of land is about 400 million euros. The infrastructure impact tax amounts to 84 million euros, while the social housing obligation is calculated at 58.5 million euros. Likewise, indirectly, the state is charged with the obligation to clean up the territory at a cost of about 25 million euros. The sharing of loan costs, such as the obligation to the state shareholder, corresponds to a value of 8.25 million euros.

The total investment contribution of the state party amounts to 299.75 million euros, not including the 50.5 million euro loan received for the construction of the passenger terminal and the regulation of the port infrastructure, European Union (EU) grants, the costs of financing the new port, the claims of German and Turkish companies that have sued the Albanian state in arbitration for 140 million euros, the costs of bringing the relevant road infrastructure, sewage, energy, water, etc. to the border of the project area.

So, with a simple calculation, the Albanian state becomes an investor in the Durrës Marina with around 300 million euros, not counting the value of the donated property, which amounts to around 524 million euros.

But in its claims, the Durrës Port Authority, as a shareholder in 'Durrës Marina', justifies the land grant with not very convincing arguments.

According to APD, 20% of the land given for 'Durres Marina' will be returned to public space for the city of Durres.

Durrës Port Authority
The allegations of infringement of public property rights are unfounded, as the immovable property made available to the project constitutes a state contribution to the investment. Ownership of the land will be transferred in parts to the developer, the joint venture 'Durrës Marina' sh.a., in which the state owns 33% of the shares. According to Article 10.8 of the Framework Agreement and the Marina Agreement, ownership of critical maritime infrastructure, including the piers, the port basin and the entrance channel, will always remain state property and inalienable.

From the 60-hectare development area, 20% of the land will be turned into public space for the city of Durrës, which will be owned by the state.

The Constitutional Court's decision also highlights another detail, which is not specified in the explanatory report of the agreement. According to the report, it is only specified that the investment will reach the figure of 2 billion euros, divided into two phases. But the Constitutional Court's decision reveals that the real investment will never be that much money. According to the explanations made by the Durrës Port Authority, the value of 2 billion euros also implies other assets that are not directly related to the investment.

Durrës Port Authority
Within this principle, the applicant's claims that the investor's investment of 2 billion euros is unrealistic are unfounded, since the 2015 agreement clearly states that in addition to money, the investment also includes real estate, shares, securities, bonds, loans, rights and claims for money, according to contracts that have a financial value, intellectual property. On the other hand, the standard development contract for tourism investments, approved by the Council of Ministers No. 691, dated October 5, 2016, as well as concession contracts, which have been signed by all Albanian governments, regardless of the political spectrum, requires as a condition for its effectiveness the confirmation by the investor that he has found financing. The development of projects, including major ones, does not depend on the value of the company's initial capital, but on its financial health and the possibility of finding financing.

So, in other words, asBy this logic, Alabbar can also declare the Burj Khalifa tower as part of the company's financial health, and declare it as part of the investment.

After reviewing these claims, on February 21, 2025, the Constitutional Court rejected the opposition MPs' request, leaving the agreement in force.

The decision was made at a time when the government, at the beginning of 2025, had approved several dozen other development permits for the 'Durres Marina' project.

On the other hand, while the Constitutional Court decided by a majority of its members to reject the request of opposition MPs to repeal the law, two members of this court gave a partially opposing opinion, describing the law, from a formal point of view, as unconstitutional.

Judge Marsida Xhaferllari lists at least seven constitutional arguments as to why the law approved in the Assembly on the agreement between the Albanian government and the Alabbar company is unconstitutional.

In points 6 and 7 of her arguments, Xhaferllari specifies that the approval of administrative contracts, by law, which has been turned into a norm by the Assembly, is denaturing the country's normative system, because such a law takes on the characteristics of an individual act, it applies to a certain legal relationship towards individualized subjects and is exhausted in its implementation.

Such a law lacks the characteristics of a normative act, it is devoid of content, and does not regulate situations and behavior in a general manner.

Further in point 7, Marsida Xhaferllari states that the Assembly's approach to approving the agreement by law, through the parliamentary legislative procedure, also distorts the procedures for its judicial control, as an act of the will of the parties.

Thus, as long as the agreement does not constitute a normative act, its legal status excludes it from ordinary judicial jurisdiction, while placing the Court in the position of accepting within its jurisdiction the control of acts of an individual nature.

While in the end, she demanded that the law be repealed by her colleagues, which in fact does the opposite.

Marsida Xhaferllari
In summary of the above reasons and based on Articles 4, 81–85, 116 and 131, letter 'a', of the Constitution, I assess that the law subject to challenge is incompatible with the Constitution in formal terms, insofar as the Assembly has acted in violation of parliamentary legislative powers and procedure. Consequently, the Court should have accepted the request in part and decided to repeal the law subject to the request.

Judge Ilir Toska delves deeper into the law, where he finds that at least three of its articles, 1, 3 and article 4, are unconstitutional and for this reason the law should be repealed.

He initially argues that 'The intervention of the Assembly in this case through the legal approval of the framework agreement, the statute of the joint venture, the development agreement and the contract for the transfer of the title of ownership and the agreement 'On the Durrës Navy', i.e. through an act of a general nature, makes this activity unconstitutional.

The Assembly has intervened to regulate an issue that concerns the evaluation and approval of the executive branch, being faced with an agreement of will, which in practice is realized through an offer and its acceptance, therefore of a purely executive nature.

The will of the legislator in this case is not expressed in the capacity of a representative body of the will of the people, that is, as a will of an authoritarian type, but only with the aim of giving legal value to the provisions of an agreement that is binding and brings consequences only to its parties.

Moreover, according to Judge Toska, the adoption of the three above-mentioned articles by the Assembly prevents ordinary courts from protecting the interests of the state party in this case.

Ilir Toska
The intervention of the Assembly in this case through the legal approval of the framework agreement, the statute of the joint venture, the development agreement and the contract for the transfer of the title of ownership and the agreement 'On the Durrës Navy', i.e. through an act of a general nature, makes this activity unconstitutional. The Assembly has intervened to regulate an issue that concerns the evaluation and approval by the executive branch, being before an agreement of will, which in practice is realized through its offer and acceptance, i.e. of a purely executive nature. The will of the legislator in this case is not expressed in the capacity of a representative body of the will of the people, i.e. as a will of an authoritarian type, but only with the aim of giving legal value to the provisions of an agreement that is binding and brings consequences only to its parties.

It is clear from what we have shown you that the adoption of this law, which paved the way for the destruction of the most important economic and strategic asset for Albanians, the Port of Durres, was orchestrated in such a way that everything favored businessman Mohamed Alabbar.

And the results of this law, at least to date, show that the only one who has benefited is the Arab businessman, Mohamed Alabbar.

80 hectares of land worth 520 million euros, the country's largest port serving his resort, and above all, the extortion of over 66 million euros in just two years to build apartments, which one never knows when those who ordered them will enjoy.

All this started with great propaganda and personal commitment by Edi Rama and Belinda Balluku, who promised that Alabbar would invest 2 billion euros in Durrës, but in fact, from the documents available so far, it turns out that Alabbar benefited from a public asset worth over half a billion euros by investing only 23 thousand euros as founding capital for the company 'Durrës Marina'.

The rest of the money injected into capital or investment is income from the amount of over 66 million euros in contracts from clients who have prepaid for apartments in the Durres marina.