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Government: We are terminating the contract for the Vlora airport because we were not given a deadline for the start of operations

2026-08-19 12:10:08Biznes SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

At the beginning of this month, the government officially announced the start of the procedure for terminating the Vlora Airport concession contract.

Kapitali publishes the resolution letter that the Ministry of Infrastructure has sent to the concessionaire company Vlora International Airport, its two partners, and the project financier, the National Commercial Bank, which lists the reasons why this decision was made.

"From the documentation administered and the verifications carried out, a series of contractual violations and problems have been found, related to the failure to implement the concession object within the contractual deadlines and the failure to fulfill obligations by the Concessionaire Company, which are presented below and constitute the basis of this notice of termination," the official notice for the termination of the contract states.

The concession agreement between the government and VIA, in its article 15.4, provides for 8 cases in which the state has the right to terminate the concession contract. This is the article on which the government based the termination of the concession.

Article 15.4 of the concession contract

"Article 15.4 of the Contract provides that the Contracting Authority has the right to terminate the Contract early if the Operation Date has not occurred on a date that will be 90 days after the Intended Operation Date, a period that may not be extended except in accordance with the provisions of this Contract," the official letter states.

According to the government, the 90-day period after the intended date of operation has long since expired, as its deadline expired on June 20 of this year.

"The operation of Vlora International Airport did not commence within the Targeted Operation Date (20.02.2026) nor within the subsequent 90-day period, which ended on 20.05.2026, and the airport was not put into operation by the concessionaire as a result of its actions or inactions," the letter continues.

The ministry claims that it has been understanding and willing to find a solution with the concessionaire and its partners to resolve the impasse. However, the concessionaire has changed the completion deadlines several times.

"The proposed deadlines were changed successively, initially until August 2026, then until 01.03.2027, and finally without any defined deadline, being replaced only with a forecast of an Implementation period of 8 (eight) months, conditioned by the presumption of a full commitment of human capacities. This continuous change of deadlines clearly demonstrates the inability of the Concessionary Company to declare a sustainable and supported deadline for putting into operation, as well as the very causes of this inability, the impact on the works of legal conflicts between partners and the lack of committed capacities," states the notice of the solution that the MEI has sent to the concessionary company and its partners.

The government says that another reason that makes the completion of the airport impossible is the dispute between the two shareholders.

"This conflicting situation, ongoing and worsening, has continued, even though the Contracting Authority, in good faith, requested that the parties, within a certain deadline and with each other, find an agreement to guarantee that the progress of implementing the obligations of the concession contract is not affected, due to their conflicts," the letter continues.

According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, another serious problem that has put the airport in a bind is the 100 million euro loan that Pacolli's Mabco received from the Delphos investment fund and the clashes over shares between the two partners.

"Disagreements between the parties regarding the transfer of quotas and the loan agreement have led to the escalation of the conflict between the partners of the Concession Company, creating concrete and insurmountable obstacles in the relations between them. These disputes have directly affected the functioning of the Concession Company and its ability to fulfill the contractual obligations undertaken under the Concession Contract," the settlement announcement states.

For these reasons, the Ministry of Interior argues that it sees no other solution than to intervene to protect the interests of the state by terminating the contract, according to its provisions. (Kapitali.al)


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