Construction tender, contract extension and now connecting roads; "Cobial" always wins in Kardhiq - Delvinë!

2025-01-18 21:23:10Fokus SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Kardhiq - Delvina

For six and a half years in a row, the firm "Cobial" has always emerged as the winner of several tenders for the Kardhiq - Delvinë road, the cost of which was increased by additional and dubious contracts. In fact, a former director is under accusation of abuses with these tenders.

Her successors in office continue to sign tenders for this axis in 2025, camouflaged as a village road. But, they are the connecting roads of this segment, which continues to devour public money, without hurting anyone.

The case of the company "Cobial" is a clear example; it won a large construction tender worth 28 million euros, received an additional contract worth 4.6 million euros, and is now receiving another 2.5 million for a connecting road.

The offer in the last tender was not the lowest of the "preferred" firm, but again, with legal and exclusionary mechanisms, it managed to win the contract and continue working in that segment!

 

Construction tender, contract extension and now connecting roads;
In 2025, ARRSH announced the winner of the "Cobial" firm for the Shijan - Delvinë road.

 

On January 16, 2025, the Albanian Road Authority announced the winner of the next tender in Kardhiq - Delvinë. According to documents available to the VoxNews editorial office, director Gentian Gjyli announced the winner of the contract
"rehabilitation of the Shijan - Delvinë road segment and the connecting road of the village of Vergo, lighting of the Shijan roundabout".

The initial budget for this procedure was 288 million lek excluding VAT, while the deadline for its implementation is 8 months. The suspicions are that the winner was predetermined, since in the ARRSH documents it was written that the winner would emerge from a methodology, where the price had 50 points, the work schedule 15, the staff also 15 and 10 points had the impact on the environment and maintenance.

“COBIAL” participated in the tender with a bid of 254 million and BOE “ARKONSTUDIO” & “KTHELLA” with a bid of 240 million. So, about 14 million less than the winner. But, ARRSH disqualified the lowest bid, as it received fewer points than the first bid. A questionable methodology, as it clearly favored the highest bid, as it had been warned.

Construction tender, contract extension and now connecting roads;
The tender for the Shijan – Delvinë road is part of the Kardhiq – Delvinë segment

VoxNews browsed the accompanying documents, where it turns out that the money thrown by the ARRSH is for the connecting road of the Kardhiq - Delvinë segment. The documents state that "The Albanian Road Authority, based on the issues raised by the Delvinë Municipality and the residents of the village of Vergo, plans to rehabilitate a local-urban road with a total length of about 7.5 km. For the segment, the connection of the village of Vergo, with the main axis Kardhiq-Delvinë, will be made at the point with coordinates X. For this segment, an implementation project will be drafted by the contractor (consultant). In these terms of reference, rehabilitation of the road segment Shijan-Delvinë, lighting of the Shijan roundabout, where there is an implementation project for this segment, as well as the construction and design of the connecting segment of the road of the village of Vergo with the main axis Kardhiq-Delvinë" are stated in these documents.

In this tender, the ARA assigned the winner to also design the connection to the Kardhiq-Delvinë road. “The connection will be made through a junction that is outside the design standard, becoming a problem for road safety and the comfort of movement of road users,” these documents state.

Construction tender, contract extension and now connecting roads;
The firm 'Cobial' together with the firm 'Gjoka' won 28 million euros in 2018 for lot 4

In 2018, the ARRSH announced the winners of Lot 4 of the Kardhiq - Delvinë road, where this axis was made with several lots, some of which had started years ago. The limit fund was 2.4 billion, while with VAT the amount went to 2.8 billion, or 28 million euros.

The object of the contract was the construction of the Kardhiq - Delvinë road, lot 4, while the project was drafted by several companies. "The purpose of the investment is the construction and full completion of the Kardhiq - Delvinë road axis, the connection with the completed road segments and those that will be built in the future.

Construction tender, contract extension and now connecting roads;
In 2021, the ARA provided additional funds to firms worth 4.6 million euros.

Even before the construction contract was completed, in 2021, the Albanian Road Authority, led at the time by Ergys Verdha, gave "awards" to all the companies that were building the Kardhiq - Delvinë axis. One of the lots that received an additional award was lot 4, where 'Cobial' and 'Gjoka' operated.

According to the documents, the procedure was carried out by negotiation without prior publication of the notice, as it was an additional work in the tender "construction of the Kardhiq - Delvinë road, Lot 4". "The need for additional work was caused by additional, unforeseen works that do not depend on the Contracting Authority (geology and technical problems that have arisen during the implementation period), are not technically separated from the initial contract. All these works are intertwined with the basic contract and are necessary for the completion of the basic contract. The additional contract does not exceed 20% of the value of the basic contract," the documents state.

These firms, according to this document, received a full 465 million lek as additional works. So, after they won the big tender, the additional works, now they also get the connecting roads, despite the fact that they did not have the lowest bid. Was this procedure also predetermined?!

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