Although footage filmed by environmental activists shows heavy machinery altering the habitats of the Poro Pine - Nartë Protected Landscape, the Minister of Environment, Sofjan Jaupaj, defended the works by claiming that they were "permitted" and as simply "encroaching on private property" with no environmental impact. But his statements contradict even the subordinate institutions themselves that have not seen a clear KKT permit for the works for what is known as Jared Kushner's project.
Although environmental activists' cameras have been filming heavy machinery, bulldozers leveling the land and trucks with gravel being unloaded inside the Pishë Poro-Nartë Protected Landscape for weeks, Environment Minister Sofjan Jaupaj told reporters at a press conference on Thursday that it was only a matter of fencing off private property for geological studies.
The Minister of Environment also claimed that the company carrying out the works had permission from the KKT for these interventions and that "not a single tree was cut down" in the area.
The minister insisted, despite the claims of environmental organizations about the importance of the ecosystem where work is being done, that the area in question did not have a high protection category, but only category 5, and accused activists of misinformation who link this area to the Vjosa delta, which is in the second category and has stricter protection.
"A kind of confusion is created, perhaps even malicious, that connects the Pishë Poro – Nartë area with the protected area of the Vjosa River. A change needs to be made here, the Vjosa River is a national park, category two, while Pishë Poro – Nartë is a protected landscape, category 5, where category five is actually the lowest category of protection of protected areas, where some investments are allowed by legislation," said Jaupaj.
According to him, in this area these works are allowed without an environmental impact study.
Jaupaj's statement came a few days after the company with unknown 'offshore' ownership called "Zvërnec South Adriatic Development" began work on the luxury tourist complex in the Zvërnec area, which was followed by harsh reactions from environmental organizations that accused that the "Protected Landscape was being destroyed."
Contrary to what Jaupaj claimed at the press conference, the control authorities, including the Administration of Protected Areas under his authority, deny having been notified of the permission for the intervention. AdZM has only received a letter from the Territorial Development Agency from the company, informing it that a permit for works on the site had been approved, but that the latter had not been signed since the review process and conditions had not been met.
"After this moment, the decision and the attached material will be signed by the relevant authorities after the completion of the review process and fulfillment of the conditions of this decision," states the correspondence, which was sent just 1 day before the leader of the AOS organization Taulant Bino filmed the interventions with heavy machinery in the area.
The company “Zvërnec South Adriatic Development”, which is owned through several shell companies by the offshore company “Dutch Trust Management BV”, which according to documents at the Central Bank is registered in the name of 5 anonymous shareholders with Albanian citizenship. The names of the beneficial shareholders are not made public as they own less than 25% of the shares, 4 have 24% of the company's shares and a fifth owns 4% of the remaining shares.
The company in question received two development permits for the construction of a massive tourist resort in Zvërnec in January and April 2025 from the National Territorial Council headed by Prime Minister Edi Rama, but the permits have not yet been made public. The AZHT has not responded to requests for information regarding these permits and documents for developments of this nature, such as the Environmental Impact Assessment, have not been made public.
The development permits are related to the project presented by the US President's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in the spring of 2024.
Two environmental organizations, AOS and PPNEA, denounced the works in the protected area, comparing them to "a massacre."
"More than 3 kilometers of coastline of the protected area, consisting of pine trees, hills and unique dunes, is being desecrated by heavy vehicles that are violently interfering with the ecosystem. In less than a week, the machines are alienating the wildest habitats of the landscape by opening new access roads and construction sites," PPNEA wrote in a public statement on Thursday.
The statement is accompanied by photos of heavy machinery in the area that show that this is not a matter of fencing off property, but rather paving with gravel within the protected landscape and intervention with heavy machinery there. /BIRN/
