Building new infrastructure is one of the crucial steps in the process towards economic growth, stability and general development in the Balkan region. Agreed upon to being built in 2004 and the most expensive infrastructure project of Albania, the new highway between Durrës (harbor city at the Adriatic sea) and Kukës (bordering to Kosovo in the northeast) was finally opened in September last year. In June 2009, I went from Prishtina, Kosovo to Durrës by car. Although the distance is only about 250 km, it took us 13 hours (!), having to drive 30km/h at least half of that time in the northeastern mountains in Albania.
June 2009: 30 km/h in the northeastern Albanian mountains
Not only travelling within Albania has become a lot easier - the new highway is extremely important for the development in general of the Balkan region, allowing tourists from other neighbouring countries to easier reach Albania and for business goods to flow over the borders. The old travelling time between Kukës and Durrës in Albania was 6-7 hours, now it has been reduced to 2 hours when driving 120km/h between the mountains instead of 30km/h in the mountains has become reality. Originally the costs were forecast to be around 400 million euro but quickly rose to 800 million euro, leading to controversy and corruption allegations during construction. In the end of July 2009, I went to Albania again and could enjoy some parts of the highway already being in use. Note: The time stamps on the pictures below are incorrect.
June 2009: Durrës - Kukës highway construction work
June 2009: Durrës - Kukës highway construction work
June 2009: Balkan cows taking a walk on highway construction in Albania
The idea is to further connect Albania with Kosovo. The highway construction in Kosovo between Vermicë at the Albanian border in the southwest and Merdarë at the Serbian border in the northeast, started during 2009 but it’s taking a long time. Recently reported by BalkanInsight, the Kosovo Government has been critized for agreeing on a too high price for the new highway when appointing US-Turkish construction company Bechtel-Enka for Kosovo’s most expensive infrastructure project so far. Letting Bechtel-Enka build the new road would mean a cost of 7,5 to 8 million euro/km.
Albania, with its Alp landscape, paid on average 6,5 million euro/km when building their highways. The average cost of 8 million euro/km for the rather flat landscape of central Kosovo is critized as “astronomical” by the opposition, Alliance for the Future of Kosovo. The cost of the Bechtel-Enka deal varies from 659 euros to 1 billion euro, but since no fixed price has yet been agreed on between the Kosovo Government and Bechtel-Enka, the opposition fear that the mistakes of overspending in Albania could be repeated also in Kosovo.
Furthermore, the route of the highway is highly discussed – while the Ministry of Transport in Kosovo claims that some of the Bechtel-Enka’s suggestions will keep down the costs, the opposition critisizes the ministry for trying to benefit certain government officialls by choosing some solutions over others…
The future of the Balkans is bright, but there is a long road to go towards regional stability, free flow of goods and persons as well as transparency in government structures. Lets just hope that the Kosovo Government will be able to find the best solution for maybe the most important infrastructure project in Kosovo history that will benefit all of its people and its businesses.
Building infrastructure – an important but slow process in the Balkans
Building new infrastructure is one of the crucial steps in the process towards economic growth, stability and general development in the Balkan region. Agreed upon to being built in 2004 and the most expensive infrastructure project of Albania, the new highway between Durrës (harbor city at the Adriatic sea) and Kukës (bordering to Kosovo in the northeast) was finally opened in September last year. In June 2009, I went from Prishtina, Kosovo to Durrës by car. Although the distance is only about 250 km, it took us 13 hours (!), having to drive 30km/h at least half of that time in the northeastern mountains in Albania.
June 2009: 30 km/h in the northeastern Albanian mountains
Not only travelling within Albania has become a lot easier - the new highway is extremely important for the development in general of the Balkan region, allowing tourists from other neighbouring countries to easier reach Albania and for business goods to flow over the borders. The old travelling time between Kukës and Durrës in Albania was 6-7 hours, now it has been reduced to 2 hours when driving 120km/h between the mountains instead of 30km/h in the mountains has become reality. Originally the costs were forecast to be around 400 million euro but quickly rose to 800 million euro, leading to controversy and corruption allegations during construction. In the end of July 2009, I went to Albania again and could enjoy some parts of the highway already being in use. Note: The time stamps on the pictures below are incorrect.
June 2009: Durrës - Kukës highway construction work
June 2009: Durrës - Kukës highway construction work
June 2009: Balkan cows taking a walk on highway construction in Albania
The idea is to further connect Albania with Kosovo. The highway construction in Kosovo between Vermicë at the Albanian border in the southwest and Merdarë at the Serbian border in the northeast, started during 2009 but it’s taking a long time. Recently reported by BalkanInsight, the Kosovo Government has been critized for agreeing on a too high price for the new highway when appointing US-Turkish construction company Bechtel-Enka for Kosovo’s most expensive infrastructure project so far. Letting Bechtel-Enka build the new road would mean a cost of 7,5 to 8 million euro/km.
Albania, with its Alp landscape, paid on average 6,5 million euro/km when building their highways. The average cost of 8 million euro/km for the rather flat landscape of central Kosovo is critized as “astronomical” by the opposition, Alliance for the Future of Kosovo. The cost of the Bechtel-Enka deal varies from 659 euros to 1 billion euro, but since no fixed price has yet been agreed on between the Kosovo Government and Bechtel-Enka, the opposition fear that the mistakes of overspending in Albania could be repeated also in Kosovo.
Furthermore, the route of the highway is highly discussed – while the Ministry of Transport in Kosovo claims that some of the Bechtel-Enka’s suggestions will keep down the costs, the opposition critisizes the ministry for trying to benefit certain government officialls by choosing some solutions over others…
The future of the Balkans is bright, but there is a long road to go towards regional stability, free flow of goods and persons as well as transparency in government structures. Lets just hope that the Kosovo Government will be able to find the best solution for maybe the most important infrastructure project in Kosovo history that will benefit all of its people and its businesses.
Photo courtesy: Anna Wiman.