The show "On Target"

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 annulment. However, the Constitutional Court deemed the agreement legal and left 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 transfers 80.9 ha of land in the port of Durrës to the Ministry of Finance, with the aim of giving the property to the investor. On July 18, 2022, the Strategic Investment Committee changes 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 separated 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 Constitutional Court's decision, 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, ass According to this logic, Alabbar could 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 'Durrës 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 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.