TIRANA (Albania), October 25 (SeeNews) – Kuwaiti company Combined Group Contracting has won a tender for the construction of the Fier bypass road in Albania, while a joint venture comprising local company Gener 2 and Italy's Impresa Ing.E.Mantovani has been selected to build the Vlora bypass road, infrastructure minister Damian Gjiknuri said
The winners of the two tenders have been approved by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), both financing the roads’ construction, Gjiknuri said in a Facebook post late on Wednesday.
The construction works on both roads will start in a few days, he noted.
Albania has received a 48.8 million euro ($55.7 million) loan from the EBRD and the EIB to finance the construction of the Fier bypass road and a further 48 million euro in funding, which includes a loan from the EBRD and the EIB, and a 15.1 million euro grant from and European Commission of Delegation (ECD), to finance the construction of the Vlora bypass road.
The two bypasses are key sections of the national road network in Albania and will connect important roads previously co-financed by the EBRD and EIB (such as the Levan-Tepelene and Levan-Vlora roads).
The bypasses will help improve the regional integration, facilitate trade and economic growth, alongside supporting tourism development in southern Albania.
($=0.8755 euro)