The government is abandoning a scheme that was used to legalize illegal apartments in Tirana at ridiculous prices, while the opposition calls the move propaganda.

Vladimir Karaj | BIRN

Prime Minister Edi Rama announced on Friday that he would repeal a government decision and parts of the law that allowed large builders to legalize unauthorized additions at prices far below market and with exemptions from fiscal obligations.

In a press conference that lasted an hour and 40 minutes – where the two ministers accompanying him did not speak for a second, Rama declared that he would remove the right of pre-emption from builders of floors built without permission.

The proposal aims to amend the Council of Ministers No. 589 of 2022 and the 2023 law "On the administration of buildings confiscated as unauthorized constructions...", through which the National Council of Territories (NKT) had seized thousands of square meters of unauthorized constructions in Tirana, but then returned them to the same builders for a very low payment.

"Ultimately, we will propose some changes... where the right of pre-emption in a confiscation procedure and the right to enter into a contract with a promise to sell are abolished. This is the essence of this change," Rama said.

The decision comes after allegations that a group of builders close to the government benefited from a scheme to legalize entire floors of buildings in Tirana, while ordinary citizens were fined or had their additions demolished.

"While thousands of families in villages or small towns have been fined and demolished for a small room or addition, in the middle of Tirana entire floors have been legalized for large builders, who were then 'amnestied' through the pre-purchase scheme at ridiculous prices," said Democratic MP Jorida Tabaku, adding that the scheme has served to avoid builders' tax obligations.

Even the MP of the Together Movement, Redi Muçi, described Rama's initiative as propaganda.

"The agreement between the builder and KKT on the real number of floors is made in the foundation pit. The reason why Edi Rama declares that he will eliminate this speculative scheme is unclear. I think it is simply a propaganda statement and nothing more," he said.

During the conference, Rama defended the scheme as successful, arguing that full confiscation was impossible as the builders had already sold the apartments, and that payments had been made at market prices.

"They were forced to buy them at market price for one reason only, and we removed this pre-purchase now, because it is no longer needed," he said.

But data obtained by BIRN shows the opposite: the confiscated buildings were returned to the builders at an average price of just 223 euros per square meter – about ten times less than market prices, and with contracts that also exempted them from around 2 million euros in fiscal obligations.

Many of these builders are currently under criminal investigation by the Tirana Prosecution Office for construction violations.