Former Guard commander Gramoz Sako has officially launched his campaign for the Tepelena Municipality. While he seeks the votes of citizens to "serve" the public, on the other hand, his brother Artani seems to be serving himself from public funds.
In just one week, the "2T" company, linked to the Sako family, has secured three lucrative tenders in southern cities, confirming that power networks and public money continue to follow the same path.
The first tender is for the new pumping station in Gajda, Lushnja, with a limit fund of 4.25 million euros, developed by the Lushnja Water and Sewerage Company. Despite the three lowest bids, the winner was announced as the company "2T" with a bid of 3.8 million euros.
On the same day, “2T” received another tender of 2 million euros for the reconstruction of the Athal road, developed by the Himara Municipality, in partnership with Apis Construction, a company considered a satellite of “2T”. Here too, the minimal differences between the offers reveal a fictitious competition and a smell of collusion that cannot be hidden with paper.
But the list doesn't stop there. The Municipality of Vlora also awarded a tender to the joint venture of operators "Apis" and "2T", this time for the reconstruction of high water channels, worth 550 thousand euros.
In total, in the last five years alone, "2T" has benefited from over 100 million euros from the state budget, becoming one of the most privileged companies in public tenders.
This situation shows that the lines between politics and business remain blurred. When beneficiaries of public tenders have direct links to political candidates, citizens' trust in the fair use of their taxes is called into question. Mixing public and private interests can harm competition, transparency and the very idea of serving citizens.
