From BoldNews.al
The company “Besta”, owned by entrepreneur Robert Zyka, is one of those that has not created a high public profile, compared to many similar companies operating in the field of public tenders in the construction field.
And yet, it seems to have established a kind of “hegemony” in the public procurement procedures carried out by local units in the Berat region. This is perhaps aided by the fact that “Besta” shpk is headquartered in Berat.
An observation conducted by “Boldnews.al” on the tenders won by this company shows an interesting fact – in most of them, where the values of the limit fund range from several hundred thousand to several million euros, “Besta” shpk has been declared the winner in ‘red flag’ procedures. In some of them, the company has been the only participant or has emerged as the winner after the disqualification of other competitors.
Of course, raising a “red flag” is not a necessity to consider a tender suspicious or predetermined. But, when this situation is repeated more and more often, there is room to raise a big question mark over the way these procedures were organized and how they managed to channel millions of public euros into the accounts of Robert (Bert) Zyko’s company.
30 million euros in local government
The company “Besta” shpk is mainly focused on participating in infrastructure tenders, held in local government administrative units.
The editorial team conducted a search on the information portal “openprocurement.al” on the procedures won by “Besta” in various municipalities in the country. The data shows that the value of the tender fund limit won by Zyko’s company exceeds the amount of 30 million euros.
Of the total, the company “Besta” was declared the winner as the only competitor in the procedures with a total limit fund of around 6 million euros. While, in the other tenders won, “Besta” shpk was part of the merger of operators.
Also, the data shows that Robert’s (Bert Zykës) company has been declared the most successful in the Berat region, including the municipalities of Berat, Kuçova, Dimal and Skrapar. Meanwhile, “Besta’s” victories have a more limited distribution in Kavaja, Durrës and Rrogozhina.
“Red flags”
A significant portion of the tenders won by “Besta” shpk are distinguished by the “red flag”, an indicator that is raised in cases where public procurement procedures are conducted in the absence of competition.
“Boldnews.al” has highlighted some of these procedures, which are even more significant due to the value of the limit fund.
– In May 2026, the company “Besta” was declared the winner of the tender “River protection on both sides of the Malindi stream, at the foot of the Malindi Bridge, entrance – exit”, developed by the Municipality of Skrapar. The limit fund for this procedure was about 300 thousand euros. 8 economic operators are participating in the tender. “Besta” shpk was declared the winner, after the three competitors with the lowest bid were disqualified.
– In December 2025, Bert Zykë’s “Besta” was declared the winner in the tender held by the Municipality of Kuçova for the “Requalification of Berati, Çamëria, Perondia, Gjon Buzuku streets”. The procedure had a limited fund of around 150 thousand euros. Two competitors participated in the competition, one of which was disqualified for not meeting the criteria.
– In April 2025, Robert’s (Bert Zykës) company was declared the winner of the tender “Urban Requalification in the “5 Shtatori” neighborhood, Çorovodë, block no. 1 (phase I), Skrapar Municipality, with a limit fund of over 400 thousand euros. 11 competitors participated in the competition. Six of them, with the lowest bid, were disqualified, before “Besta” was declared the winner.
– In January 2024, “Besta” is declared the winner of the “Rehabilitation of the Mangalem Traffic Junction” tender, developed by the Municipality of Berat, with a limited fund of 18.6 million lekë or about 200 thousand euros. Two competitors participate in the procedure and Bert Zyka’s company is declared the winner after the other competitor was disqualified.
– In September 2022, “Besta”, in collaboration with the company “Llazo”, was declared the winner of the 4.5 million euro tender conducted by the Municipality of Berat, for the “Reconstruction of the ‘Bab Dudë Karbunara’ High School”. Official data shows that 4 economic operators participated in the tender, three of which were disqualified on the grounds that they did not meet all the criteria.
Similar procedures are spread in other years and in other local units, including in the Municipality of Durrës and the Municipality of Dimal.