When a tourist port is part of a strategic investment approved by the Strategic Investment Committee (SIC), its construction and operation will no longer be subject to the concession procedure.
Instead, the port will be built and operated directly by the strategic investor.
A short draft law (two articles) proposed by the SP MP for Vlora, Zamira Sinaj, gives the green light to this process, as a result of the privatization of seaports.
The procedures, rules and documentation necessary for concluding a contract for the construction and operation of the tourist port(s) will be determined by decision of the Council of Ministers.
Purpose
Referring to the relationship, the draft is justified by the fact that there is an overlap between two current laws: the law on tourist ports (granting by concession or other competitive forms) and the law on investments (assisted procedures).
This, according to MP Sinaj, has led to delays and uncertainties, even though it is not accompanied by concrete examples.
EU practices
The report specifies that the draft act does not aim at direct approximation with the acquis communautaire of the EU. It is said that it is in accordance with the Constitution and the hierarchy of normative acts. It is also specified that the draft act does not bring additional financial effects to the state budget.
However, referring to EU practices, free competition and transparency should be important in these processes.
In this specific case, on the one hand, the benefits that will come are emphasized, such as increased investment, regional development, and new jobs, but on the other hand, suspicion arises about a reduction in competition, transparency, and increased privileges for certain investors.
Problems
Based on experience to date, economic expert Zef Preçi criticizes the granting of "strategic investor" status by the government as a mechanism that, according to him, has served to favor its clients, oligarchs and even segments of organized crime.
The main argument, according to him, is that this status provides selected businesses with undeserved benefits such as tax exemptions, land expropriations, and avoidance of competition, bypassing the constitutional principles of free competition.
The proposed amendments, according to Preçi, reinforce this practice "by giving dubious investors the opportunity to acquire coastal ports, without a national master plan for their development."
"In my opinion, this amendment simply favors some government clients by violating other laws that are also in force," says economic expert Zef Preçi to Faktoje.al./ Faktoje.al/
