November 15 (SeeNews) - A joint venture comprising Turkish companies Intekar Yapi and ASL started building the Llogara road tunnel in the southwestern Albanian region of Vlora, Albania’s prime minister Edi Rama said.
The tunnel creates new opportunities for tourism and rural development, as well as a boost for the economy of the southern coastal areas, Rama said, as seen in a video file posted on Facebook after the official launch of the project on Sunday.
The construction of the six-kilometre tunnel is expected to be completed within 33 months, PM Rama added.
The tunnel will reduce driving time between the coastal areas of Orikum and Palasa to just seven to ten minutes from 55 minutes, infrastructure minister Belinda Balluku said, as seen in the same video.
The Turkish JV won a 17 billion leks ($158.4 million/138.4 million euro) tender for the construction of Llogara road tunnel in October.
In September, Albania selected a proposal submitted by a joint venture led by Vienna-based iC Consulenten Ziviltechniker as winner in the international tender for the design of the Llogara tunnel, local media reported at the time.
(1 euro = 121.820 leks)