The government has officially re-announced the much debated Milot-Balldren road concession .
A sudden announcement in the Public Procurement Agency announces the initiative of the Ministry of Infrastructure, directed by the Deputy Prime Minister, Belinda Balluku .
According to the documents available to VoxNews, the procedures have been submitted to the PPA and in the following weeks offers will be received from the interested firms.
But what stands out is that the entire segment with a length of 17.2 kilometers will be tolled.
The road is an extension of the Kashar-Thumane axis, where the concessionaire is getting ready to collect the tax, after the failure of the first attempt.
But these two axes are not the only ones with tolls, as Rruga e Kombit also has tolls.
The above document is the announcement of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, published in the Public Procurement Agency in recent days.
AI has an object of the procurement procedure, " For the concession award of the road segment Milot-Balldre ".
In fact, in this short document it is written that "the limit fund is ALL 0.00".
So, a road that will be built entirely from the funds of private firms, but that the latter will receive, a user tax must also be imposed.
A scheme similar to Kashar-Thumane, even private individuals, even if they are not paid by taxes, their profits are guaranteed.
It is learned that the tender development time is in the month of December, the month when the largest road procedures in Albania are opened, as to crown the "successes" of the government, in granting the much-debated concessions.
It is written in the document that it is about constructions, foundations and field works for highways.
In 2018, the government opened the tender for the Milot-Balldre road concession for the first time.
The segment is 17.2 kilometers long and originally had a construction cost of 161.5 million euros.
Even then, the work would be built with the funds of the trial companies and then the government would pay for it in installments over 13 years.
The road stretches along the existing axis that connects Milot with the city of Lezha.
Then it deviates as a completely new road, from the junction of the city of Lezha to Balldren, where it connects with the existing road in the direction of Shkodra.
At that time, the project was initiated after an unsolicited proposal of the company ANK and in October 2018, the firm won the competitive procedure for this concession.
The value of construction and maintenance was 161.5 million euros. But, after a non-competitive renegotiation, the value of the contract increased to 213 million euros without VAT, or 256 million euros with VAT, for a length of 17.2 km.
After the winner was announced, there was debate about the capacity of the winning firm to build it.
In December 2019, former Deputy Prime Minister Erion Braçe declared that this concession was cancelled, as "the company could not respond to the contract".
"Do you know how much all this is that the opposition is shouting? The bill for PPP is 8.2 billion ALL per year. What's the fuss about? Milot-Balldre will not happen! The company cannot respond to the contract. Why are they waiting for what are they talking about now? We have been declaring for 1 month that this will not happen...why are they shouting about Milot-Balldre", Braçe said.
Meanwhile, currently the government reopened this procedure with another formula, without budget support, and the company will build the road with its own money and earn income from the toll.
So it will be a toll road!
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