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Weekly Lists
March 9, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 29
bne:
Infrastructure
IMF advises Albania to suspend PPP programme
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) official has advised the Alba- nian government to temporarily suspend its ambitious €1bn public private partnership (PPP) project due to concerns over increased debt.
The national programme dubbed “A billion for reconstruction” is aimed at mobilising substantial capital for road infrastructure, edu- cational and health projects in the country.
“We have declared that the institutional framework for managing the PPP agreements is not suitable. Certainly, building adequate capacities and institutions requires time, and that’s why we advised the government to take a small break and cancel all new conces- sion agreements,” the head of the IMF office in Tirana, Jens Reinke, told broadcaster Top Channel on March 6.
Reinke also warned in February 2017 that Prime Minister Edi Rama and Finance Minister Arben Ahmetaj had not consulted the IMF over the planned $1bn PPP programme.
According to the IMF official, the PPP concessions were grant-
ed without any clear survey regarding the costs that will be paid by citizens, or about the profit they bring.
“There should be a consistent list of the priority projects that are given for PPP concessions, but there is no such list. Every conces- sion comes from a process that is not formal,” Reinke added.
He also advised the finance ministry to establish a strong unit to draft a cost-profit survey for every project, and to give it the author- ity to cancel unprofitable ones.
The European Commisison has approved €272mn financing from structural funds for the 70km motorway Sebes-Turda (A10) in Ro- mania.
The A10 will link the A1 Bucuresti-Nadlac (via Sibiu, funded by the European Union) and A3 Bucuresti-Bors via Brasov, the so-called Transilvania motorway, a project started with Bechtel in 2004 and funded mostly from the national budget.
The A10 motorway has an estimated cost of RON2bn (€430mn, VAT excluded). The European Union will finance 85% of the investment. Two of the four sections will be commissioned this year with the other two expected to be ready in 2019.
EC approves €272mn for Romanian motorway