More Resorts Planned in Protected Area at Heart of Albanian Protests

Documents obtained by BIRN from the National Territorial Planning Agency, AZHT, under Albania’s freedom of information law, shed more light on the three planned projects that were previously unknown to the public. According to some of the documents, Green Investment, a company whose majority shareholder is Kreshnik Malaj, the son of former Socialist MP Mezan Malaj, is set to develop the Arte Marea 1 tourist complex in the village of Zvernec. Meanwhile, Turi M.Z.P, owned by businessman Artur Haxhi, plans to build a hotel. A conditional permit has also been granted to Concord Investment, owned by the Dulaku brothers, which plans to build a tourist complex near the Vlora Thermal Power Plant. However, final decisions on permits have not yet been formally issued, because the developers have not completed all the required documentation. “We were granted a conditional development permit but it has not yet been formally issued, and now I don’t know where the process has stalled,” Artur Haxhi, the sole shareholder of Turi M.Z.P, told BIRN by phone. “The procedure hasn’t moved forward,” he added. His company’s project is called SALTERRA 2, and documents show that the KKTU conditionally approved a “tourist complex comprising hotel and service facilities”. The footprint of the structure is expected to cover 4,250 square metres. Haxhi told BIRN the project was still pending and there was no confirmation yet of the building’s final size. “We applied for 11 storeys but I’m not sure how many were approved – seven, six or five plus one. We are waiting for the process to move forward,” he said, insisting that the investment would protect the natural environment. The second-largest project is Arte Marea 1, developed by Green Investment. Three-dimensional plans published on a website show a resort village with villas and large-scale buildings along the seafront, covering 49,985 square metres, of which 8,424 would be occupied by structures. The project is located on land that residents say was once agricultural, although it is currently not cultivated. The company’s main shareholder is Kreshnik Malaj, son of former Vlora MP Mezan Malaj. Kreshnik Malaj and the company could not be reached for comment, while his father, former MP Malaj, distanced himself from the project. “It has nothing to do with me,” he said, declining to comment further. The largest project on this group of development permits granted a year ago belongs to Concord Investment sh.p.k. It covers a roughly 13.6-hectare strip of forest in the area known as Pylli i Sodes, behind the Vlora Thermal Power Plant. Concord representative Artan Dulaku defended the investment, arguing that the protected-area status of the surrounding area is absurd given the industrial degradation caused by the nearby power plant. “The protected area is a massive distortion of what the term means,” Dulaku told BIRN. “When there is a barren environment with no value whatsoever, no vegetation and nothing else, why is it a protected area?” he asked, claiming that protesters and the media were inflicting economic damage on Albania. Environmental experts warn that the procedures followed for development permits in Zvernec are sidestepping obligations to protect ecosystems and opening a Pandora’s box for Albania’s entire coastline. Olsi Nika of EcoAlbania says the large-scale interventions are part of a broader trend set in motion by the example of Kushner’s project. “Across the entire coastline, permits have been granted and plans are in place … Once that door is opened, all these areas will be dismantled and turned into urban zones,” Nika said. Zydjon Vorpsi of PPNEA said the plans undermine the very essence of the protected area, threatening wildlife and the unique hydrodynamics of the Vjosa Delta. “If we interfere with these factors, lay down asphalt, dig for sewage systems and concrete foundations and light up the entire area, the protected status is no longer worth anything,” Vorpsi said.