Vlora Airport, when thieves call out to the thief

Last year, American media broadcast a viral video widely. Images taken from a camera in a residence showed two thieves physically fighting to steal the newly used package in a family yard.

What is happening at Vlora Airport is virtually the same, only in a more sophisticated form. Here robbers do not clash to steal packages of clothing or perfumes bought online, but fight for shares worth hundreds of millions of euros. And they do it publicly, with no shame whatsoever.

Suppose for a moment that “Port Pirates” in the U.S. to fight in the media or even accuse each other in cases of packages, robbing American families' courts. And the question that comes naturally is where they find the courage to fight publicly for the spoils they robbed Albanians.

Here the explanation is a little complex and relates to the philosophy of how Albania is governed. In 13 years of socialist rule, Albania has become a country that has completely eliminated competition in every sector of public life.

Word comes, work appointments are not due to professional merit, but thanks to political patrol management. Public tenders are not won thanks to competition among businesses, but thanks to their ties to the government. Public assets are not distributed by competition, but by the prime minister who eats meatballs in the porch. And so on.

Therefore, the Albanian economy today has only one competition sector. This is the theft, which the prime minister defines as the phenomenon of eating apples and plums behind his back. The thieves clashed publicly for the stolen plunder at the intensaries and are now fighting publicly and trials for the stolen airport plunder. Because Vlora's airport is a circle that has already come up with the smoke of theft until Istanbul.

First of all, it's close to procedural. The moment Belinda Balluk launched the firm, which approved the sale of shares by the Turks of the Yda Group to Behgjet Pacolli, the tender of Vlora airport collapsed. Because Turks were the only ones in the winning consortium who met the expertise criteria. This turned the entire tender into a manipulated extinguish procedure, as the expertise criterion in airport management has prevented many other companies from competing and offering more convenient prices for Albanian citizens.

Second, it's about contractual. Before Behgjet Pacolli and Valon Ademi, the Albanian government tried to close a group of three large Turkish companies to build Vlora airport. Cengiz, Kaylon and Colin negotiated for several months with the Albanian government, but their bid was rejected by Damian Gjiknuri and Arben Ahmetaj. The reason for the refusal was because Turks demanded 120m euros in traffic guarantees. But later, the Albanian government accepted Pacolli and Ademi's offer with 140m euros in traffic guarantees.

What does that mean? That Vlora Airport is practically a zero risk business for construction companies. Under the business plan, construction of the airport will cost around 100m euros. Meanwhile, construction companies have guaranteed 140m euros in collections for the first 10 years, even if no aircraft is flying over Vlora Airport. If there's no aircraft, there's money from the state budget. This is traffic guarantee.

Behgjet Pacolli, who is not ashamed to argue publicly about the looted spoils, certainly has no shame when he says Albanian citizens will not pay a penny for building the airport. But it's only publicly said. Because in private he says he didn't get a contract anywhere as good as that of Vlora Airport, where he won safe money even by doing nothing.

The problem now is that Behgjet became so narrow that he is not giving up the part he agreed on when he was awarded the tender. That's all Vlora Airport conflict is. Those stories with Russian and Chinese agents are just the hot stuff that went off in Vlora. But the irony at Vlora Airport is great and very tragic.

The burglars fight trials to divide the stolen spoil, while public interest has remained orphaned and plunderers, who are citizens, remain silent.