 |
| Edi Rama and the Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Belinda Balluku during the inauguration of Arbri Road |
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy of Albania is preparing a second amendment to the concession contract for the construction of the Arbri Road, with the new completion deadline set for the spring of 2025.
"The procedures for the construction work extension have been initiated for 20 months only for the Murriz Tunnel," MIE responded to a request for information from BIRN.
The Arbri Road, connecting Tirana to Dibra, was originally planned to be completed by April 2022. However, the ministry initially extended the deadline by 17 months for the concessionaire company "Gjoka 87" to complete the work.
After the expiration of the new deadline, the Murriz Tunnel is still far from completion. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, the extension was calculated by an independent engineer and "will not have financial implications for the Contracting Authority."
 |
| Google screenshot of the place of where Arbri Road will be build |
The construction of the 54-kilometer road linking Tirana to Dibra began in 2018 after the company "Gjoka Konstruksion" won the concession with an offer of 33.6 billion leks. By June of this year, the company had received payments totaling 13.4 billion leks.
The project envisions the construction of a two-lane road that passes through a series of six tunnels and two high bridges. However, the main part of the project, the Murriz Pass Tunnel, 3.8 kilometers long, has been replaced by an 8.8-kilometer narrow mountain road.
The problems encountered with the opening of this tunnel have been used by the ministry as justification for extending this contract twice by a total of 37 months.
The ministry told BIRN that the concessionaire company has adhered to the deadlines of the baseline schedule and the revised schedule of the works, but it considers the technical evaluation report of the Independent Engineer "confidential," referring to the contract.
For the rest of the work on the road, MIE claims to have quantified 91.2% of the physical progress of the work and 83.1% of their financial progress.