The SPAK investigation into the Llogara tunnel tender procedure has been enriched with new data, which has led to the return to questioning of some of the people involved in the file.
The investigation focuses on several electronic communications between officials and entities that participated in the tender procedure. According to the data made public, these materials were made available to SPAK by other persons, whose identities have not been disclosed.
In the last two days, prosecutors have again summoned several former officials connected to the procedure. Initially, Gentian Gjyli and Erald Elezi were questioned, while today, the former Secretary General of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, Viola Haxhiademi, also appeared to testify.
Former Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister Belinda Balluku is also expected to be questioned as part of the investigations.
SPAK has filed charges for “Violation of equality in tenders” against five other people in this file: Gentian Gjyli, Ervis Berberi, Erald Elezi, Jetmira Dervishi and Mirzeta Kashica. They were involved in the capacity of members of the Bid Evaluation Commission in the procedure for the construction of the Llogara tunnel.
The investigation is related to the manner in which the tender was conducted for one of the country’s most important infrastructure projects, part of the Orikum-Himarë axis.
The first procedure was opened in December 2020 and ended with the cancellation of the tender in April 2021. Six companies participated in the competition, while the lowest bid was that of “Gjoka Konstruksion”, with a value of around 140 million euros.
A few months later, in June 2021, the tender was reopened with a limit fund of around 190 million euros excluding VAT. At the end of the procedure, the winner was declared the merger of the Turkish companies Intecar and Asl, with a bid of around 170 million euros plus VAT.
SPAK is verifying whether actions were taken during these procedures that improperly influenced the determination of the winner.
In addition to the Llogara tunnel, SPAK’s investigations have also extended verifications to other procedures related to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy. SPAK head Altin Dumani announced earlier that the Vlora Airport project is also under investigation, while preliminary verifications have also been carried out for the Thumanë-Kashar highway.