It is one of the largest projects in the entire Western Balkans and has already received an official face for the start of work involving the Port of Durreswith the signing of a memorandum between the world-renowned investors, "Eagle Hills Real Estate Development"represented by developer Muhammed Alabbar and "Albanian Seaports Development Company"for the realisation of the project "Durrës Yachts & Marina"construction of the largest marina in the Mediterranean in Durres.
The Albanian Parliament approves the project
Last week, by a majority vote, the Albanian Parliament approved the draft law ratifying the agreement for the upgrading the port of Durresregeneration into a high-value residential and commercial retail tertiary area centred on yacht docking and parking, and the gradual transfer of the mercantile function to an area deemed more suitable for logistical expansion.
The latter, with feasibility assessments carried out completely independently of the agreement Marina yachting, will arise in Porto Romano.
These are two totally distinct and autonomous projects in legal and adjudicative terms, but functionally coordinated through the role played by the port authority, its general management and the companies it expresses and in which it has an interest.
The Marina yachting marina.
The Marina yachting marina. The law implements the agreement signed in August between the two main contractors: Eagle Hills
Real estate development ltd, represented by Mohamed Alì Rashed Alabbar - under the patronage of the United Arab Emirates - and the
Albanian Seaport Development Companya company specially created by the Durres Port Authority and represented by Erlis
Hereni.
The framework agreement, prearranged by the Council of Ministers, also includes the Nshmi development lcc, construction company
located in Dubai.
The agreement provides for the establishment of a joint venture in which the state, through its state-owned subsidiary, will hold 33 per cent of the shares at all times with the possibility of veto rights.
This project aims to be the largest in the Balkan region, with an estimated investment volume of EUR 2.1 billion from the private strategic investorwhile the government will contribute indirectly by applying the tax concessions (as a share of infrastructure and building taxes) on income that will be generated in the receptive real estate sectors amounting to EUR 220 million.
On the other hand, the normal tax regimes on VAT, profits and contributions will apply to all realised activities, with additional revenues for the state budget amounting to EUR 1 billion over the next 20 years.
The project is between 1.3 and 2 million square metres and includes 280 yacht berths, 12,000 flats and 2 4- and 5-star hotels for
a total of 850 rooms, plus 80,000 square metres of open green areas and 700 metres of linear beach. The interventions will be implemented in two
phases, the first from the second half of 2023, worth EUR 600 million, and the second from 2028 for
an investment quota of 1.5 billion. The division into two phases is intended to ensure the continuity of the port of Durres as a mercantile infrastructure, until the new commercial terminals in Porto Romano.
45 per cent of the area occupied by the construction sites will revert to public ownership in the following proportions: 20 per cent to the city of
Durres as rehabilitated state property, and 25 per cent to the state in the form of maritime infrastructure, piers, docks and inlet channels.
An estimated 12,000 mostly skilled jobs will be created along the various phases.
Porto Romano
It will be the new commercial platform in Durres, when fully operational the most important one in the region. It will house a production and processing centre for goods and various types of components (including propellers for windmills) mainly to be exported to neighbouring and nearby countries, and will be made more attractive through the definition of a dedicated special economic zone. The feasibility study was entrusted to the Dutch company Royal Haskoning dhv - winner of the tender in September 2021 - joined by local partner Abkons and the port authority team.
Porto Romano rises nine kilometres north of the present city port and centralises the industrial elements, as part of a project to transform the current facilities into a commercial promenade with benefits for the residents of an area now considered decentralised.
Again, there are two phases: the first with the launching of a tender that should lead to the opening of construction sites
after the end of June 2023 and will, within three years, transfer the strategic and decisive container terminal from the current port of
Durrës, all at a cost in the range of 320 to 440 million euro to be borne not by the state budget but by the activities
generated by the port authority itself; the aim is to inaugurate the first functionalities in the first part of 2025 by the end of the
current government legislature.
The second phase Instead, it envisages the expansion of terminals and container reception and cargo processing capacities. Phase 1 aims, in the first three years, to cope with the needs of Albania and the Balkan region for the next 15 to 20 years, tripling to 15 million tonnes of processable goods and 510,000 containers receivable.
Porto Romano will also have a greater depth, up to 15 metres, to accommodate military infrastructure serving the
NATO and exercises without conflicting with commercial or tourist activities.
The project will cover a potential 60 hectares, from where the two railways will start, the tracks that will connect Durres with the future dry ports or back ports of Pristina in Kosovo and Struga Lake Ohrid in North Macedonia, the latter on the axis of corridor eight.
Concerning the current construction lot of the Durazzo airport Rinas Tirana railway line, the company in charge is Inc of Turin.
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