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The metamorphosis of the Qukës–Qafë Plloçë road, VoxNews exclusively reveals the 2009 tenders: Here's who designed the 42 km road!

2026-01-09 21:43:26Fokus SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
The metamorphosis of the Qukës–Qafë Plloçë road

The fruitless debates of recent days are shifting the attention of those truly responsible for the design and construction of the Qukës - Qafë Plloçë axis, a project started in 2009 and completed in the summer of 2025, a full 16 years of difference to build only 42 kilometers of road.

But, a few months after this inauguration, the collapse of some segments has begun, large rocks and boulders are endangering the lives of passers-by, while in recent days mud and soil have once again invaded this segment, closing it to traffic for the umpteenth time.

But if the situation on the ground is fair, as drivers circulate on Qafë Thana road, a debate has begun in Tirana's political and media circles about who is responsible, with the current majority loudly shouting that "Berisha is to blame for designing it", while Berisha's own supporters declare that "Rama and Balluku are to blame".

The majority's debates focus on institutions, officials, or even the firm that designed the work, while the opposition blames the government for building a road that is constantly collapsing, despite the initial value being increased by tens of millions of euros.

In an attempt to shed some light on this entire debate, we are reminding the majority and the opposition that both are guilty! Today's opposition in 2009 led the government, while making several tenders quickly at that time to design and build it for the elections of that year. Even, from the podium of a rally in Korça, former Prime Minister Sali Berisha would declare that "we are building the Egnatia road, so much requested by the entire area.

The metamorphosis of the Qukës–Qafë Plloçë road,
In the photo: The cabinet of Sali Berisha's government in 2009, where the late Sokol Olldashi was at the head of the Ministry of Infrastructure.

Not all of it is "Sali's fault", as today's majority, which came to power in 2013, during these 12 and a half years in power, has terribly increased the cost, from 150 million euros, which was the initial value, to 260 million at the moment it said it would inaugurate it in the summer of 2025. So, 110 million euros more to "correct" Berisha's mistakes.

In several public appearances over the past few years, Prime Minister Edi Rama would declare that “these are Saliu’s projects, with gross errors.” But if there were errors and they were fixed, with a full 110 million euros in additional costs, or even maintenance costs, why is the road collapsing?

In 2009, as readers may recall, the "Berisha 2" government was in power, where the Minister of Infrastructure was the late Sokol Olldashi, who took office in 2007.

The metamorphosis of the Qukës–Qafë Plloçë road,
Facsimile: Initial cost of the construction of Qukë – Qafë Plloçë, where it turns out that the design firm is Italian

VoxNews reviewed official data from the Albanian Road Authority, which shows that the construction of the Qukës – Qafë Plloçë road began 16 years ago. The Authority itself writes that the contractor for the washed lot is BOE “JV Sintram & Albavia”, while the supervisor of the works is the firm “CEC”.

This document also lists the name of the design firm, which turns out to be “AIC Progetti”, an Italian company. The works began on July 1, 2015, and the value of the works was 38 million USD.

Meanwhile, the second lot has the "Combain Group" firm as the contractor, while the design and supervision firms are the same as the first lot. The works began on July 1, 2015 and the value of the works was 63 million USD. Later, these values, as for the first, second and third lots, have changed, adding frightening amounts, but they still did not solve the problem!

The metamorphosis of the Qukës–Qafë Plloçë road,
Facsimile: Announcement of the tender for the design of Qukë – Qafë Plloçë, announced by the General Directorate of Roads on April 2, 2009

VoxNews exclusively obtained the tender documents for the design of the Qukës – Qafë Plloçë road, a full 16 and a half years ago. The above document is from 2009, announced by the General Directorate of Roads, today the Albanian Road Authority.

It was about a consultancy service, electronic procurement, while the procurement object is "study, design of the Qukës -Pogradec - Qafë Plloçë road". The limit fund of the procedure at that time was 162,793,820 lekë, while the deadline for performing the service was 12 months from the date of signing the contract.

The metamorphosis of the Qukës–Qafë Plloçë road,
Facsimile: Announcement of the winner of the road design tender, announced by the Roads Directorate on April 2, 2009

With great speed, given that it was before the parliamentary elections of June 28, 2009, the then government announced the winner of the road design tender, to then pave the way for former Prime Minister Sali Berisha to use during the electoral campaign.

On April 2, 2009, the winner of this procedure was announced, which turned out to be the company “AIC Progetti”, an Italian company that has also operated in Albania, opening a branch in our territory. The Italian company’s offer was very close to the limit, or received 99% of the allocated fund, with a value of 162,340,000 lek excluding VAT.

The metamorphosis of the Qukës–Qafë Plloçë road,

The metamorphosis of the Qukës–Qafë Plloçë road,
In the photo: The Italian company advertises the design of the Qukës – Qafë Plloçë road on the internet

VoxNews browsed the Italian company's website, where it turns out that "AIC Progetti" still advertises the design of this axis on the internet to this day, as a "success story", despite some political and media circles increasingly insisting that the design was done wrong.

The Italian company itself writes that the road is 42 kilometers long and its client was the Ministry of Infrastructure. It writes that it worked from June 2009 to December 2010. According to it, it is a road with an altitude of 700 to 1200 meters and is mountainous. There were 28 viaducts and 1 natural tunnel. It also provided for layers of gravel, bitumen and asphalt. “The project is particularly complex due to the morphology of the area that required the use of retaining walls in long sections,” the company writes.

It further wrote that the foundations of the structure are both on pillars and on the surface. We do not know whether or not all these designs were implemented precisely, due to the long time, interruptions of work for years, and changes to the project several times.

The metamorphosis of the Qukës–Qafë Plloçë road,
Facsimile: Announcement of the first tender by the General Directorate of Roads for the construction of the Qukës – Qafë Plloçë axis

On May 29, 2009, before the design contract had been signed, the government of the time quickly opened a tender with the object of "construction of Qukës - Qafë Plloçë road, lot 1". The value of the tender was 487,192,142 lekë, while the deadline was 14 calendar months.

The tender was only for the June 2009 elections, while after that time, tenders for other lots were opened one after another, despite the fact that during the “Berisha 2” government only the first 2 kilometers were built. But, even for these kilometers, the current government opened the tender “completion of works on the Qukës – Qafë Plloçë road segment”. According to the documents, the fund was 335 million lekë, or about 3.5 million euros. In the explanatory reports, ARRSH says that it has verified the remaining works in Lot 0.

However, the most scandalous thing is that, despite the estimated cost of construction being 150 million, the amount went up to 260 million and again, with these new collapses, more money will be needed.

The authority writes that the first projects during implementation were established in empirical studies, i.e. general, and not detailed, especially for works of art, tunnels and slope protection. According to it, the route consisted of landslide areas, with high groundwater levels and variable and unstable morphology of mountainous terrain.

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This article is exclusive to Vox News, and is protected by copyright under Law No. 35/2016, "On Copyright and Related Rights". The article may be republished by other media only by citing Vox News and placing a link to the source at the end, otherwise any violator will be held liable under Article 178 of Law No. 35/2016.

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