Payments for concession contracts, some of which have been debated as major cases of corruption, were financed during the first nine months of 2025 with 9.61 billion lek (about 100 million euros) or 69% of the annual plan.
According to the Ministry of Finance, September marked the highest level of payments with 2.14 billion lek, or 22.3% of the nine-month total, with the largest share being occupied by the contract for the "Arbri Road" with about 1 billion lek, which constitutes 47.1% of the total payments for that month.
Compared to the same period in 2024, payments for the nine-month period of 2025 have increased by 289.5 million lekë, or 3.1% more.
The increase is mainly attributed to two major infrastructure contracts: the Milot–Morinë Motorway, with payments 277.8 million lek higher than in the first nine months of 2024, and the Porti i Jahteve – By Pass Orikum – Dukat (Ura e Shën Elizës) Road, with 171.9 million lek more than a year earlier. According to the Ministry of Finance, this increase is related to the implementation of the payment schedule specified in the financial models of the respective concession contracts.
On the other hand, a decrease in payments has been observed for some PPP contracts compared to last year. One of them is the project for improving the educational infrastructure in the Municipality of Tirana, which includes the construction and maintenance of school buildings in the “Tirana 1” and “Tirana 4” areas.
Payments for this contract during the first 9 months of 2025 were 347.8 million lek lower than in the same period of 2024, which is related to the pace of implementation of the payment plan, although in annual terms the amount planned for 2025 remains approximately at the same level as in 2024.
For the entire year 2025, the budget funds planned to support concession contracts and public-private partnerships (PPP) amount to 13.93 billion lek, according to data reported by the relevant contracting authorities. Of this amount, 8.34 billion lek are current expenses and 5.59 billion lek are for investments.
Compared to the actual payments in 2024, which were 13.29 billion lek, the 2025 plan results in 4.77% higher, or about 634.6 million lek more./monitor
