SPAK, which is cracking down on corruption and money laundering, has documented links between political power and the concrete business, while the financing of these investments remains unclear.
Edi Rama’s KKT has approved the amendment of a construction permit for villas in Himara, where among the developers is Ilirjan Celibashi, the chairman of the Central Election Commission. Alongside him are his wife Ardiana Mediu, the family company of Fatmir Mediu of “Gërdec” and several construction businessmen, including Artan Nito, the owner of the luxury NASSAU hotel in Dhërmi, involved in the investigations for money laundering with fictitious invoices in the “Beqja” file. Politics, high-ranking officials and the construction business appear together in an investment on the coast, where financial interests go beyond the names listed on a permit.
The KKTU decision, listed in point 55, provides for changes in the design of individual residential structures up to two floors above ground, with one underground floor and a perimeter wall. Among the developers are Celibashi, Ardiana Mediu, Beauty International, Astrit Kamberi, Dritan Shehu, Artan Nito, Lindita Nito, Arlind Nito, Kledion Nito and Sonila Xukthi.
Flamingos protest / Edi Rama signs the permit for Celibashi’s villas
Beauty International is controlled by Semela and Even Mediu, the children of Fatmir Mediu, with 50 percent of the shares each. Ardiana Mediu is the sister of the leader of the Republican Party, Fatmir Mediu. The company, founded in 2011, has operated mainly in trade, import-export and consultancy, while in 2020 it declared around 105 million lek turnover and 5.1 million lek profit before tax. Today it figures in the villa project in Himara, next to Celibashi and construction companies.
An important role in this story has ALB-EDIL , the company of Astrit Kamberi and Dritan Shehu, who each own 50 percent of the shares. The company has declared for 2024 about 617 million lek turnover and 95.6 million lek profit before tax. Kamberi and Shehu also have interests in the energy sector, through the company Albania Power Core, which has received a permit for a 40.56 MW photovoltaic power plant in Fier. So, we are talking about businessmen with investments in construction and energy, two sectors where government decisions on permits and territorial development have direct economic weight.
It is ALB-EDIL that appears in repeated development relations with the family of the CEC chairman. Dritan Shehu appears alongside Celibashi and his wife in the Farka project, while in Himara he and Astrit Kamberi are among the villa developers. The mixing of the interests of a powerful construction company with those of a high-ranking state official directly raises the issue of ownership agreements and economic benefits.
The other construction partner is Artan Nito, the owner of NASSAU in Dhërmi, who controls 60 percent of NIKI KONSTRUKSION & SOLAR, while Lindita Nito owns the rest. Arlind and Kledion Nito also figure in the project. ALB-EDIL and NIKI KONSTRUKSION & SOLAR appear together in the document of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage dated November 7, 2024, for a villa project in Himara.
Celibashi’s history with construction goes back even further. On May 31, 2024, a project for individual housing in Farkë e Vogël, Tirana, was registered in the documents of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage, where Ilirjan Celibashi, Ardiana Mediu, Dritan Shehu, Raimonda Balla and Suela Çoba appear as owners and developers. Shehu is the co-owner of ALB-EDIL, which today appears again alongside Celibashi in Himara.
Within two years, the CEC chairman and his wife appear in two housing projects, in Tirana and on the coast, together with the same developer. In Himara, the Mediu family and NASSAU’s Artan Nito join the group. It is precisely this repeated union between public office, politics and private capital that makes the story part of the debate on the economic interests of those in power.
While citizens fill the squares against corruption and the plundering of public assets, in Tirana and Himara, documents bring to light another concentration of interests between those in power, political families and businessmen who benefit. The Chairman of the CEC, Fatmir Mediu of Gërdec, and their oligarchs appear in the same villa project.
SPAK, which has undertaken to crack down on corruption among those in power and money laundering, should also turn its attention to the villas of Celibashi and the Mediu family in Tirana and Himara, where documents reveal repeated connections between power, politics, and the construction business.
These projects raise strong questions about the source of funding and the benefits hidden behind the agreements with the builders. If justice aims to dismantle the nests of corruption of those in power and their oligarchs, it must follow the money to the luxury villas. Where it is suspected that the government’s bargains turn into properties worth millions of euros, SPAK must shed light on every agreement and every source of funding. / Pamphlet