Abuse of tenders/ SPAK sends the mayor of Kolonja and other officials for trial

2026-06-19 16:01:00, Aktualitet CNA

The Special Prosecution Office has sent the mayor of Kolonja, Erion Isai, and other officials of the municipality and the Albanian Road Authority for trial for committing the criminal offenses of "Abuse of office", in collaboration with "Violation of equality of participants in public tenders or auctions".

The investigations were conducted in relation to the procurement procedure with the object “Construction of the Korçë-Ersekë road, Lot 2 (part one)”; the procurement procedure with the object: “Supervision of works for the construction of the Korçë-Ersekë road, lot 2 (part one)” and the procurement procedure with the object: “Supervision of works for the construction of the Ersekë Water Supply and several villages, Phase two from the Kozel springs”.

Full announcement:

The Special Prosecution Office against Corruption and Organized Crime completed the investigations and has sent to the Special Court of First Instance the request for the trial of criminal proceedings no. 280/1 of 2020, against the defendants:

1. Erion Isai, acting as Mayor of the Municipality of Kolonjë, accused of committing the criminal offenses of "Abuse of office", in collaboration, "Violation of equality of participants in tenders or public auctions", in collaboration, provided for by articles 248 and 25, 258 and 25 of the Criminal Code;

2. Eljona Mydini, former deputy mayor of the Municipality of Kolonjë, accused of committing the criminal offense of "Abuse of office", in collaboration, provided for by article 248 and 25 of the Criminal Code;

3. Ergys Verdho, former General Director of the Albanian Road Authority, accused of committing the criminal offense of "Abuse of office", in collaboration, provided for by article 248 and 25 of the Criminal Code;

4. Erald Elezi, former Director of the Directorate of Strategic Planning and Operations, at the Albanian Road Authority, accused of committing the criminal offense of "Abuse of office", in collaboration, provided for by article 248 and 25 of the Criminal Code;

5. Genti Raça, with the duty of head of the preventive sector at the Albanian Road Authority, accused of committing the criminal offense of "Abuse of office", in collaboration, provided for by article 248 and 25 of the Criminal Code;

6. Donika Shehu, former high-level specialist at the Albanian Road Authority, accused of committing the criminal offense of "Abuse of office", in collaboration, provided for by article 248 and 25 of the Criminal Code;

7. Klarita Konomi, former high-level specialist at the Albanian Road Authority, accused of committing the criminal offense of "Violation of equality of participants in public tenders or auctions", in collaboration, provided for by Article 258, 25 of the Criminal Code;

8. Nikollaq Mihali, with the duty of high-level specialist at the Albanian Road Authority, accused of committing the criminal offense of "Violation of equality of participants in tenders or public auctions", in collaboration, provided for by article 258, 25 of the Criminal Code;

9. Erdit Salillari, with the duty of head of the foreign project drafting sector at the Albanian Road Authority, accused of committing the criminal offense of "Violation of equality of participants in tenders or public auctions", in collaboration, provided for by article 258, 25 of the Criminal Code;

10. Erjon Cenko, Engjëll Dine, Ermal Zylfo, employees of the Municipality of Kolonjë, accused of committing the criminal offenses of "Forgery of documents, in collaboration", "Violation of equality of participants in tenders or public auctions", in collaboration, provided for by articles 186/2, 258 and 25 of the Criminal Code;

11. Armand Tafil, Muharrem Tartari, Shpëtim Liço, employees of the Municipality of Kolonjë, accused of committing the criminal offense "Violation of equality of participants in public tenders or auctions", in collaboration, provided for by Article 258, 25 of the Criminal Code;

12. Entela Çano, with the position of administrator at the company A& E Engineering” sh.pk, accused of committing the criminal offense of “Forgery of documents”, in collaboration, provided for by article 186/2 of the Criminal Code.

From the conduct of investigative actions, the evidence administered resulted in criminal facts for the responsible persons of the contracting authority and other state institutions, interacting in several procurement procedures, developed by the Albanian Road Authority and the Municipality of Kolonjë.

1. In relation to the procurement procedure with the object "Construction of the Korçë Ersekë road, Lot 2 (part one)", with a limit fund of 2,879,999,858.89 (two billion eight hundred seventy-nine million nine hundred ninety-nine thousand eight hundred fifty and eight point eighty-nine) lek including VAT, developed by the Albanian Road Authority on 24.09.2020, it has resulted that:

In relation to the project presented as an initiative of the Municipality of Kolonjë, within the framework of the procedure followed for "Design service in the form of donation" with the object "Construction of Korçë-Ersekë road, Lot 2", from the investigative actions and the evidence administered, it was found that the Municipality of Kolonjë did not have design documentation prepared by it for this object, although there are official correspondences with the Albanian Road Authority in which the opposite is stated.

From the evidence administered, supported also by the graphic examination of the writing and signing of the document, it has resulted that the working group of the Municipality of Kolonjë, composed of citizens Erjon Cenko, Engjëll Dine, in collaboration with the person who donated the project, citizen Entela Çano, administrator of the company "A& E Enginieering"sh.pk, have falsified the minutes of the project's acceptance by the Municipality of Kolonjë, while it turns out that there was no project.

Regarding the determination of the limit fund for the procurement procedure, by citizens Ergys Verdho, in the capacity of the head of the contracting authority and other responsible persons of the Albanian Road Authority, citizens Erald Elezi, Genti Raça and Donika Shehu, it appears that the legal path for determining the limit fund was not followed.

At the time of drafting the final estimate, prepared by citizens Erald Elezi, Genti Raça, Donikë Shehu, a document also approved by the General Director of the Albanian Road Authority, citizen Ergys Verdho, it appears that there was no project drafted and proposed by the Municipality of Kolonjë, as presented as documentation formalized by the Municipality of Kolonjë.

The determination of the limit fund by the working group, the responsible persons of the Albanian Road Authority, citizens Erald Elezi, Genti Raça and Donika Shehu, was made on the basis of data prepared and manually submitted by the interested person herself, the citizen, Entela Çano, the administrator of the company "A & E Engineering" sh.pk, which subsequently won the contract for supervising the implementation of works for this object, the construction of the Korçë-Ersekë road, lot 2 (first part).

In preparing the estimate that also served to determine the limit fund of the contracting authority, citizens Ergys Verdho, in the capacity of the General Director of the Albanian Road Authority and other responsible persons, citizens Erald Elezi, Genti Raça and Donikë Shehu, acted in violation of Law No. 162/2020 “On Public Procurement”, Council of Ministers No. 914, dated 29.12.2014 “On the Approval of Public Procurement Rules”, as amended, Law No. 10296, dated 8.7.2010, “On Financial Management and Control”, as amended, Law No. 10164, dated 15.10.2009 “On the Albanian Road Authority”, Council of Ministers No. 276, dated 16.5.2018 “On the Approval of the Organization, Structure, Staff and Statute of the Albanian Road Authority”.

From the evidence administered, supported by the technical, evaluative and accounting expertise, it has resulted that the fund determined by the contracting authority for this procurement procedure has been inflated to the value of 590,213,874 (five hundred and ninety million two hundred and thirteen thousand eight hundred and seventy-four) lekë, which also constitutes economic damage caused to the state.

2. The procurement procedure with the object: "Supervision of works for the construction of the Korçë-Ersekë road, lot 2 (first part)", with a limit fund of 22,704,145 (twenty-two million seven hundred four thousand one hundred forty-five) lek including VAT, developed by the Albanian Road Authority on 14.10.2020, has resulted in:

Erdit Salillari, Klarita Konomi, Niko Mihali, in their capacity as members of the bid evaluation committee, acted in violation of Law No. 9643, dated 20.11.2006 “On Public Procurement”, as amended, and Council of Ministers No. 914, dated 29.12.2014 “On the Approval of Public Procurement Rules”, as amended, creating unfair advantages and privileges for the company of citizen Entela Çano, “A&E Engineering” sh.pk

3. The procurement procedure with the object: "Supervision of Construction Works of the Ersekë Water Supply and several villages, Phase Two from the Kozel springs", with a limit fund of 4,623,021.7 lekë including VAT, developed by the Municipality of Kolonjë, developed on 06.10.2020, has resulted in:

In relation to the calculation of the limit fund and the drafting of technical specifications, citizens Muharem Tartari, Engjëll Dine, Ermal Zylfo, in their capacity as members of the commission for the calculation of the limit fund and the drafting of technical specifications, in cooperation with the head of the contracting authority, citizen Erion Isai, have acted in violation of Law No. 162/2020 “On Public Procurement”, as well as Council of Ministers No. 914, dated 29.12.2014 “On the Approval of Public Procurement Rules”, as amended, with the aim of favoring and creating unfair privileges for the winning company of this procurement procedure, the company “A&E Engineering” sh.pk

The members of the commission for calculating the limit fund and drafting the technical specifications, citizens Muharem Tartari, Engjëll Dine, Ermal Zylfo, based the calculation of the fund without conducting a real market study, relying on fictitious offers prepared by the winning company of this procurement procedure, the company "A&E Engineering" sh.pk. The technical specifications were prepared by the administrator of the company "A&E Engineering" sh.pk, citizen Entela Çano.

In relation to the drafting of the standard tender documents, the members of the procurement unit, citizens Armand Tafil, Erjon Cenko, Shpëtim Liço, in cooperation with the head of the contracting authority, citizen Erion Isai, have acted in violation of Law No. 162/2020 “On Public Procurement”, as well as Council of Ministers No. 914, dated 29.12.2014 “On the Approval of Public Procurement Rules”, as amended, with the aim of favoring and creating unfair privileges for the winning company of this procurement procedure, the company “A&E Engineering” sh.pk

The members of the procurement unit, citizens Armand Tafil, Erjon Cenko, Shpëtim Liço, in cooperation with the head of the contracting authority, citizen Erion Isai, have approved the standard tender documents by establishing criteria determined by the winning company of this procurement procedure, the company "A&E Engineering" sh.pk.

Clarification: Every person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a final judicial decision.