A few days ago, the Special Prosecution Office questioned Alqi Bllako, regarding the Eco Park affair in Durrës. The former socialist MP was escorted from the Durrës detention facility to the SPAK district, where he gave explanations to investigators from the National Bureau of Investigation. Sources confirmed that Bllako was questioned for at least three hours. The former Secretary General of the Ministry of Environment, due to his function as director of the National Agency for Water Supply, Sewage and Urban Waste (AKUM), is thought to be the key person who can shed light on this affair. He has been in prison for 3 years and is facing the Special Court for the Tirana, Fier and Elbasan incinerator affairs.
Investigations into the Eco Park affair have been ongoing for nearly 5 years, but SPAK has not yet made a decision regarding this file.
SPAK launched investigations mainly into the 15 million euro tender for the closure of the old Porto Romano landfill in Durrës and the construction of the Eco Park.
As results from the documentation, in October 2019, the National Agency for Water Supply, Sewerage and Urban Waste (AKUM) announced the tender for the closure of the existing Porto Romano landfill and the construction of the Eco Park with a limit fund of 1.9 billion lek including VAT.
The tender was canceled three days later. On December 16, the government decided that the procurement procedure would be carried out through direct negotiation, in other words, without competition. In December, AKUM awarded the tender to the companies 'De Mare' and 'Victoria Invest' worth 18.5 million euros including VAT.
The companies that won the tender subcontracted the works to the company Artcon (formerly Artesmis Farm), which is owned by Denist Ymeri, Mirel Mërtiri's driver, the latter one of the two actual owners of the Tirana incinerator.
