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SMS in the Signal application/ How Balluku predetermined the winner of the Llogara tunnel tender

2025-11-05 19:31:18Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA VLADIMIR KARAJ
Belinda Balluku

According to the investigative file and messages exchanged on Signal, Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku is accused of controlling every step of the procurement procedure worth 18.9 billion lek for the Llogara tunnel and predetermining the winner, in violation of standard tender criteria.

On May 28, 2021, three days before taking up one of the most important positions in the country's infrastructure, Evis Berberi receives a long message from Minister Belinda Balluku. The message, revealed in the SPAK investigative file, is not simply a congratulations on the appointment, but an invitation to a loyalty pact, the foundation of which, according to the prosecution, is the predetermination of the winner of the tender worth about 18 billion lek for the construction of the Llogara tunnel.

In the message, Balluku underlines more than once the importance of the issue for her and the people around her.

“Unlike other times, this time I am giving you something on which my future, yours and many others around us depend,” Balluku wrote, implying that failure was unacceptable. “It would be a big blow to me,” she added in the message, which asked her subordinate not to have meetings, not to make promises and to make any decisions in consultation with her.

Evis Berberi was officially appointed director of the Albanian Road Authority on May 31, 2021, at a time when a first tender for the construction of the Llogara tunnel was canceled by order of Balluk and his approval as a member of the Bid Evaluation Committee, KVO.

The conversations exchanged between him and Balluk on the Signal application, captured by the Special Prosecution Office on Berber's phone, show Balluk's direct involvement in the entire predetermined procedure that resulted in the merger of the Turkish companies "Intekar Yapi Tur. Elekt. Ins. San. Ve Tic. Ltd. Sti" and "Asl Insaat Taahhut Ve San. Tic. Ltd. Sti".

SPAK announced on November 3 that it had indicted Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku on charges of "violating the equality of participants in public tenders or auctions", an offense for which the Criminal Code provides for a sentence of up to 3 years in prison.

In addition to Balluku, defendants for the Llogara tunnel tender are Evis Berberi, Erald Elezi, at that time Director of Planning at the ARRSH; Gentian Gjyli, the current director of the ARRSH, as well as Jetmira Dervishi and Mirzeta Kashnica, specialists at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy and members of the KVO.

"Citizen Belinda Balluku in her capacity as Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, in cooperation with members of the Bid Evaluation Commission... have created unfair advantages and privileges for the union of bidding economic operators "Intekar Yapi Tur. Elekt. Ins. San. Ve Tic. Ltd. Sti And Asl Insaat Taahhut Ve San.San. Tic. Ltd. Sti. JV'", states the SPAK document announcing the indictment.

Asked about the conversations between her and Berber and her involvement in the tender manipulation, neither Balluku nor her defense responded. The Prime Minister also did not respond to BIRN's questions about whether he would take a position on the case.

"Disqualify everyone"

The Llogara Tunnel, which connects Vlora with the tourist villages of the South, is one of the largest and most expensive infrastructure projects in the last five years. It is also one of the most controversial projects due to its limited function.

The plans for the tunnel are old, but they were put into practice at the end of 2020 when the first tender for this project was announced. The prosecution's investigations and messages between KVO members, MEI leaders and Balluk himself show that efforts to pre-select the winner began with the first tender.

The file mentions conversations between members of the KVO, with the aim of changing the tender criteria in violation of legal provisions. In one of the messages, Berberi writes to Balluk about changing the criterion of experience in similar work at the request of a person identified as "Pëllumbi".

"According to the VKM, experience must be sought for the last three years. While he did not have it and we left it for 3 of the last 5 years. Yes, Arta told me that she had discussed this with you before the meeting with Pëllumbi," the message sent to Balluk states.

In January 2021, Balluku did not seem happy with what was happening with the tender and in March, for reasons not explained in the investigative document, the minister decided to cancel the tender completely.

Balluk's conversations with Berberi show that the decision was made between March 5 and 18, after Berberi informed the minister that Ergys Verdho (director of the ARRSH at the time, referred to as "Gysi") was requesting a KVO meeting about the tunnel and wanted to know from her what the real "deadline and target" was, before meeting with him.

Balluku does not respond to messages, but arranges a meeting with Berber and others. “Gather,” she orders. It is unclear what was discussed at the meeting, but it is clear from communications dated March 17 between Berber and Balluku that instructions were given to cancel the procedure.

Around noon, Belinda Balluku asks Evis Berberi for an account: "What about the tunnel? Did you close it?" The barber expresses concern: "No, it's serious. Let's talk live, don't write." The conversation cited by the Prosecution continues that same day with exchanges regarding the "Gjoka" company.

Po atë ditë, në orën 17:40, Balluku urdhëron: “Mendoj ta anullojmë. Skualifikoji të gjithë”. Berberi, që ishte anëtar i KVO, pajtohet plotësisht: “Jam me se dakord… Kur e do, sot apo nesër?”, madje duke theksuar se “ja këndoj këngën s’ma ndjen shumë për asnjë dhe e çoj ku duhet.” Veç vendimit për të mbyllur procedurën, Balluku këmbëngul që të pengohej ankimimi dhe të digjeshin afatet që kompanitë të shkonin në gjykatë. Ministrja këmbëngul se vendimi bazohej në ndjesi. “Jo, jo, kam atë ndjesinë time që nuk duhet”, citohet ajo, dhe Berberi e përkrah: “E ke të frikshme ndjesinë. Kur e do”.

Një ditë më vonë, 18 mars, Balluku kërkon mbyllje me urgjencë. Prokuroria gjeti se po atë ditë, në orën 17:08 minuta, KVO skualifikoi të gjitha ofertat siç ishte kërkuar nga ministrja. Një minutë më vonë, në orën 17:09, Balluku mori mesazh nga Berberi: “E mbyllëm”.

Negociatat dhe paracaktimi

Në qershor 2021, pak muaj pas anulimit të tenderit të parë dhe pasi Berberi ishte emëruar në krye të ARRSH-së, fillon procedura e dytë e tenderimit. Këtu, prokuroria pretendon se roli i Ballukut kalon në koordinatore aktive për paracaktimin e fituesit.

“Nga aktet e administruara deri në këtë fazë të hetimeve paraprake rezulton se shtetasja Belinda Balluku, duke qenë në cilësinë e Ministrit të Infrastrukturës dhe Energjisë, ndonëse kishte deleguar formalisht përgjegjësitë e titullarit të autoritetit kontraktor tek Sekretari i Përgjithshëm i Ministrisë së Infrastrukturës dhe Energjisë, shtetasja Viola Haxhademi, ka ndjekur dhe orientuar në vijimësi procedurën e këtij prokurimi publik, në fazën përgatitore, gjatë zhvillimit të procedurës, në fazën e dorëzimit dhe vlerësimit të ofertave, deri në momentin e lidhjes së kontratës me operatorin ekonomik fitues,” thuhet në dosjen e prokurorisë.

Prova të përfshirjes dhe paracaktimit, sipas SPAK, gjenden në një komunikim të datës 19 gusht 2021, përpara afatit të dorëzimit të ofertave. Balluku në këtë kohë duket se ishte në kontakt me kompaninë turke dhe i përcjell Berberit një mesazh të gjatë në anglisht nga kjo kompani. Mesazhi ishte një përditësim i brendshëm i statusit të projektit prej kompanisë, ku thuhej se oferta e tyre ishte “përfunduar në nivelin 95%”.

Kompania po ashtu vë në dijeni se ortaku i tyre në këtë tender ishte e njohur nga “Presidenti”. “Kjo është një shoqëri që ka ndërtuar një tunel autostrade 2×14 km në Turqi, dhe është gjithashtu një shoqëri që Presidenti e njeh, e vlerëson dhe e përdor si referencë”, thuhet në mesazh.

Në të njëjtin mesazh, përfaqësuesi i kompanisë turke bën me dije se ata po negocionin ndërkohë me përfaqësues të MIE.

“Both our representatives in Albania and our lawyers in Albania are continuing work and negotiations with Ms. Arta regarding the tender,” the message states, among other things. The Arta mentioned in the message appears to be Arta Gurabardhi, who is referred to in the file as an advisor at the Transmission System Operator (OST), but was extensively involved in the Llogara tunnel tender in translations and preparation of materials.

The forwarding of this internal communication from the minister to the head of the KVO, where there is open talk of “negotiations” with her staff for a still open tender, is considered by the prosecution as evidence of the predetermination of the winner. The file shows that the coordination continues. On August 24, 2021, Balluku writes to Berber: “Talk to Artën. Turks nowhere. Tomorrow at 11 meeting”, confirming the management of meetings between the parties.

Balluku is constantly informed about the movements of the Turkish company's representatives and is also directly involved in the disqualification of other companies, insisting that they did not meet the criteria.

But SPAK has found that the consortium of Turkish companies that won the tender also did not meet the criteria. SPAK says they were missing a series of documents that should have led to disqualification from the competition, but all of these were ignored.

"From the administered acts, it has resulted that the economic operator declared the winner in this procurement procedure, the Union of Economic Operators "Intekar Yapi Tur. Elekt. Ins. San. Ve Tic. Ltd. Sti & Asl Insaat Taahhut Ve San. Tic. Ltd. Sti.", has not met some of the criteria set out in the standard tender documentation," it is stated in the file mentioning the missing documents and certificates.

Some of the processes and discussions were conducted privately. Segments of the file even show that out of "zeal", Berberi showed up at the meeting place with Balluku on the morning of August 29, but Balluku informed him that he had requested the meeting at dinner.

Furthermore, she controls the deadlines for announcing the winner and even making it public. In the conversations, it turns out that the minister also faced "threats" because of this procedure, but the documents do not mention who the threat was.

In the file, SPAK argues that Belinda Balluku has bypassed the formal delegation of powers and acted as the real head of the contracting authority. The prosecution concludes that the members of the KVO, in collaboration with each other and under the instructions of the minister, have violated the law./ BIRN


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