Albanian municipalities have historically had major problems in implementing public funds, especially for investments. However, over the last two months, the flow of tenders and procurements has increased significantly, on the eve of the territorial reform, which is expected to bring a new reorganization, and the local elections that will be held next year.

Data from the Ministry of Finance show that, in the first half of 2026, local government expenditures reached 42.2 billion lek, or 15.3% more than in the same period last year. In June alone, 8.7 billion lek were spent, 20% higher than the actual level of last year and 4% above the plan for the month.

According to the analysis carried out by the Open Procurement Albania platform, during the period January-June 2026, the country's municipalities announced a total of 1,877 tenders, with a total limit fund reaching 24.95 billion lek. Compared to the same period in 2025, the figures show an interesting paradox: while the number of procedures has marked a slight decrease, with 35 tenders less, from 1,912 procedures in 2025, the total limit fund has increased by 11.03 billion lek, or 79.2%. In the first half of last year, the limit fund made available by local units was 13.92 billion lek.

But despite the wave of procurement, investment progress is not so fast. Data from the Ministry of Finance show that municipalities realized about 7.92 billion lek in investments during the period January-June 2026, from an operating budget of 54.86 billion lek. This implies a realization rate of only 14.4%, significantly lower than the theoretical pace of 50% that would correspond to half of the year.

The largest concentration of both planned funds and completed investments is in municipalities such as Tirana, Himara, Durrës and Vlora, which together account for about 63.5% of the investment budget of all municipalities. However, the high weight in the budget has not always been accompanied by a high implementation rate.

Tirana realized about 1.98 billion lek of investments, or a quarter of the national total. But, against the budget of 17.82 billion lek, the realization was only 11.1%. In second place is Kamza, with 1.14 billion lek of investments. Unlike Tirana, Kamza has used about 66% of its budget of 1.73 billion lek, marking one of the highest realization rates.

Himara is third, with 703 million lek in investments, but has only realized 8.9% of the 7.89 billion lek budget. Durrës, with a budget of 4.85 billion lek, realized 308 million lek, or 6.3%.

Lezha has the highest implementation rate among municipalities with an investment budget of over 10 million lek. By the end of June, it had used 75.7% of the planned funds.

It is followed by Kamza, with 66%, Bulqiza, with 61.3%, Vora, with 53.2%, and Këlcyra, with 50.3%. Malësia e Madhe, Fushë-Arrëzi, Poliçan, and Kukësi also show relatively high rates.

At the other end, Puka realized only 127 thousand lekë out of the planned 55 million lekë, or 0.2%. Mirdita used 1.7% of the budget, Vlora 4.2%, Korça 5.9% and Durrës 6.3%.

Libohova did not report any investments made, but her budget for this item was only 370 thousand lek.

Of the 4,586 municipal projects that were budgeted this year, 3,634 of them, or about 79.2%, had no recorded expenditure by the end of June. Projects with zero implementation have a value of about 39.6 billion lek, or 72.2% of the entire investment budget. This shows that the low level of implementation does not only come from the slow progress of active projects, but also from a very large number of projects that have not started financially.

The road network is the main area of ​​local investment. Municipalities spent about 3.56 billion lek on this sector, or 45% of total investments.

The budget for roads was around 16.99 billion lek, while the implementation rate reached 21%. Although it remains low, it is higher than the overall average of 14.4%.

Following roads are local public services, with 790 million lek in investments, basic education, with 663 million lek, and administration and planning, with 537 million lek. These four areas together account for about 70% of the investments made./ Monitor