
Albania has always been for sale, from the mountains, hills, plains or coastal areas. With various laws and decisions, that of concessions, strategic investments, the "1 euro" initiative, or even the creation of industrial and tourist areas, millions of square meters throughout the country have been given to private individuals for free. Some with political connections, others with strong business connections, or even people with a criminal past, have benefited from these state properties. But, without the echo of Strategic Investments or the parcelling of beaches, the government has already undertaken another initiative; rent the sea!
VoxNews has obtained documents published in the Public Procurement Agency, announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. For several weeks in a row, this ministry has announced several auctions in the Ionian and Adriatic seas. In total, according to the editorial office's calculation, the ministry has "sold" an area of ??401.2 hectares, or 4,012,000 square meters of water surface.
The justification of this ministry is that this area is given by the law "for fishing" or even "for aquaculture". But giving away a large area quickly, without consulting with interest groups, with specialists in the area, can have great consequences for marine life. But also in other forms, as it can hinder other touristic or maritime activities.
The above documents, provided by VoxNews, have come from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, which has also auctioned the sea surfaces that will be given to the private sector in Vlora. There are 7 different areas with different surfaces, which are expected to be "privatized" within this year. Hundreds of hectares inside the sea will already be managed by different firms, which have lobbied hard to get this public, inalienable asset. But, what stands out is that no consultation was done in advance, making all this decision-making extremely suspicious. The surfaces that have been auctioned are different, in some places 20 hectares, in another place 40 hectares. But there are also areas of 22 or 38 hectares.
In addition to Vlora, VoxNews has learned that a significant sea area will be "privatized" in Lezhë as well. This ministry writes that it "announces the participation in the public competition for the development of the aquaculture activity, the growth of sea mussels, in the coastal area of ??Lezhë". The given area is a full 125 hectares, while it is about "aquaculture growing molluscs in marine waters". The Ministry says that the works must be completed within three years from the moment of signing the respective contracts.
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