TIRANA (Albania), March 8 (SeeNews) – A consortium led by Swiss-based Mabco Constructions, a subsidiary of Mabetex Group, has won a 103.9 million euro ($123.8 million) tender for the construction, operation and maintenance of an international airport near Albania’s southwestern port city of Vlora, the country’s infrastructure minister Belinda Balluku said.
Two candidates had submitted offers in the government tender for awarding a 35-year concession contract on the project – London-based ALDE Corporation Limited, and the consortium comprising Mabco Construction, Turkish company YDA Group and Kosovo-based 2A Group, Balluku said in a video file posted on Facebook on Friday.
The negotiations with the winner will start on Monday and the contract will be signed within 30 days, Balluku added.
The Lugano-headquartered Mabetex Group is controlled by Kosovo Albanian businessman and politician Behgjet Pacolli.
The tender was launched in late 2019 after the Albanian government failed to conclude negotiations with a Turkish consortium for the construction of the airport, an investment estimated at 100 million euro.
Currently, the Mother Teresa airport in Tirana is Albania's only operational airport.
($ = 0.83918 euro)