The scandal that engulfs the Municipality of Tirana

CNA has launched another investigation that could lead to the discovery of a scandal in the Municipality of Tirana.

For about 6 months, CNA has been sending a series of letters to the capital's municipality requesting information on public spaces provided for use for events in Tirana's main squares for the years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, advertising contracts and revenues collected by the Municipality of Tirana.

For months, the Municipality of Tirana has been refusing to provide the data requested by CNA, misleading institutions that due to a cyberattack, most of the data is not recoverable.

So, the municipality has lost official documents, this is another crime.

Official sources from the Municipality of Tirana told CNA that the files and information that CNA is requesting are located at the Municipality of Tirana, as the contracts and payments made exist.

The municipality has every document in hard copy, of public spaces and advertising contracts for the years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025.

The same sources emphasized that these materials were copied and are being investigated by SPAK.

CNA discovered the company "Kuadr.com"

CNA has gone further in its investigation to shed light on the abuses that have been committed with contracts awarded by the Municipality of Tirana to companies that organize various events in the main squares of the capital, which are suspected of using a larger area than specified in the contract by the Municipality of Tirana.

CNA discovered one of the companies that has taken over public spaces from the Municipality of Tirana. It is the company "Kuadr.com", a company that deals with major events in Albania.

According to data from the Central Bank, this company has an administrator and shareholder, Aleksandër Çifligu.

This company was established in 2017 and in 6 years has implemented 300 projects, a period during which Erion Veliaj was the mayor of Tirana.

CNA reveals where abuse occurs, giving an example.

Let's say that in "Skënderbej" Square, the Municipality of Tirana has given the company "Kuadr.com" a 5 square meter advertising area, this company has a contract with the Municipality of Tirana for such an area, but, in fact, the opposite happens in reality.

According to investigations conducted by CNA, the areas leased by the Municipality of Tirana in contracts are smaller than their actual areas. With the concealment of data and information by the Municipality of Tirana after CNA's requests, it is suspected that we are dealing with major abuses.

Furthermore, there are other details that show that there is a connection between a triangle connecting the Municipality of Tirana with the company that uses the surfaces and the advertising company.

ONE advertisements at an event in "Skënderbej" Square

The scheme is revealed, the Municipality of Tirana, "Kuadr.com" and Arbër Veliaj

The tentacles go beyond "Kuadr.com" and reach Mayor Erion Veliaj's brother, Arbër Veliaj, with his company "Gogel" that operates in the advertising field, which is under investigation by SPAK.

A company that grew rapidly, generating millions after Veliaj's arrival at the head of Tirana Municipality.

Within these areas that are used for the development of events, advertisements for Arbër Veliaj's company also appear.

So, "Kuadr.com" gets them from the Municipality of Tirana and the advertising surfaces show Arbër Veliaj's clients. It's just that the municipality collects much lower income than the surfaces where these advertisements are placed. 5 m2 are rented, while in fact the advertising surfaces are hundreds of square meters.

CNA has provided data that the company "Kuadr.com" has been directly contracting with advertising companies such as ONE, Vodafone or other companies.

Subsequently, these advertisements are passed through Arbër Veliaj and not directly through the company "Kuadr.com", so the brother of the mayor of Tirana, Arbër Veliaj, intervenes between the municipality and the company that rents the spaces.

While CNA has not been given data on the requests for 6 months, in the Municipality of Tirana, the oppression does not stop and officials seem to be hiding an affair.

What results from CNA's investigation is that most of the main squares in the capital have been taken under administration by the "Kuadr.com" company for various events.

"Kuadr.com" is closely linked to Arbër Veliaj, the brother of the arrested mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj.

ONE advertisements at an event in "Skënderbej" Square

"One hand washes the other, both wash the face". We have a scheme, where the Municipality of Tirana gives the contract to "Kuadr.com" by determining the minimum areas that it must use, "Kuadr.com" uses areas many times larger than written in the contract or pays as an obligation, as a result of which it pays less taxes to the municipality. Then these areas, several times larger than the contract with the Municipality of Tirana, are made available to Arbër Veliaj to advertise the clients he manages.

The scheme is clear, Erion Veliaj gives contracts for advertising, "Kuadr.com" takes larger areas than the contract specifies, Arbër Veliaj advertises for clients. From Erion to Arbër with "Kuadr.com" in the middle, creating a triangle where the main beneficiary is the mayor's brother and the management company.

The municipality's budget is losing tens of millions of lek from the income it should have obtained from the use of advertising spaces. No one from the tax office or the municipal police who are tasked with monitoring the implementation of contracts on the ground has seen anything. Dozens of officials involved in abuse of office and abuse of the taxes of the citizens of Tirana./ CNA

In March 2026, CNA launched another investigation centered on the Municipality of Tirana, regarding public spaces rented to companies for various events in the main squares of the capital, spaces used for advertising, contracts made by the Municipality of Tirana with the company that will manage the activity, as well as the income earned by the Municipality of Tirana from these activities.

CNA initially addressed the Municipality of Tirana with a clearly defined request for information, requesting data on public areas provided for use for events in the main squares of Tirana for the years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and how much advertising space and space rented to companies are there, as well as the revenues collected by the Municipality of Tirana.

Letter sent to the Municipality of Tirana

But we received no response. Then, we followed up with a series of letters, again addressed to the Municipality of Tirana, informing the Commissioner for the Right to Information and Personal Data, but the Municipality of Tirana continues to hide the data by not making available to CNA any information on advertising surfaces, ledwalls, nor surfaces rented to companies, nor the income collected by the Municipality of Tirana, where CNA suspects fraud, theft, abuse by companies.

CNA has gone further in its investigation to shed light on the abuses and concealment of advertising revenues at public events taking place in Tirana, some of which pass through Arbër Veliaj's companies.

The company Kuadr.com is revealed

CNA has discovered the company that has rented public space from the Municipality of Tirana to hold events, in which advertisements have also been placed.

The company in question is Kuadr.com, a company that deals with major events in Albania. According to data from the Central Bank of Albania, CNA has discovered that this company has an administrator and shareholder, Aleksandër Çifligu.

Data in the Central Bank for the company Kuadr.com

Data in the Central Bank for the company Kuadr.com

This company was established in 2017 and in 6 years has implemented 300 projects, a period during which Erion Veliaj was the mayor of Tirana.

Where does the abuse occur?

Here is a simple example. Let's say that in "Skënderbej" Square, the Municipality of Tirana has given the company Kuadr.com a 5 square meter advertising area, this company has a contract with the Municipality of Tirana for such an area, but in reality the opposite happens.

According to the investigations conducted by CNA, the areas leased by the Municipality of Tirana are smaller in the contracts than their actual use. With the concealment of data and information by the Municipality of Tirana after CNA's requests, it is suspected that we are dealing with abuse or theft, as what would be the reason for the Municipality of Tirana to keep some simple data secret?

The connection with Arbër Veliaj

The tentacles go beyond Kuadr.com and reach Mayor Erion Veliaj's brother, Arbër Veliaj, with his company Google, which operates in the advertising field, which is under investigation.

Within these areas that are used for the development of events, advertisements for Arbër Veliaj's company are also displayed. The Kuadr.com company itself has been a direct contractor with advertising companies such as ONE, Vodafone and other companies.

ONE advertisements at an event in "Skënderbej" Square

But one fine day, Arbër Veliaj emerges after Erion becomes mayor, and the company Kuadr.com does not go to these advertising companies but goes through Arbër, the brother of the Municipality of Tirana. So we have a triangle that CNA will bring up in another article. 

investigation

This scheme involves a number of officials, Tirana Municipality officials, Municipal Police who must conduct on-site verifications, verifying how the contract made by the Tirana Municipality with the company that rented the premises, which are suspected to be much larger in reality than in the contract, is being implemented.

This means that the Municipality of Tirana has received less revenue from these companies, as in reality a larger space has been used for events and advertising than specified in the contract.

As a result, the company that rented the areas, which are many times larger than specified in the contract, paid less taxes and benefited more in its own pockets. This should have been verified by the Municipal Police.

The winning company for the events taking place in the main squares of the capital is the company Kuadr.com, which has received contracts from the Municipality of Tirana and is often financed by the Municipality of Tirana.

According to data from Open Spending Data, CNA has also discovered various payments that Kuadr.com has received from the Municipality of Tirana for years for various events.

Data in Open Spending Data on payments that Kuadr.com has received from the Municipality of Tirana for various events

There are several events organized by Kuadr.com that the Municipality of Tirana sponsors. This company earns revenue by taking larger areas than in the contract and the few taxes it pays are returned through sponsorships.

CNA will continue to bring further details regarding the scheme and abuses that can be considered another affair that sucks taxpayers' money. /CNA

The arrested mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, with 13 charges for 5 offenses, is known as a chronic fraudster.

CNA has often listed Veliaj's frauds and made them public, starting with the fraud and the fabricated story of the kidnapping of Griselda of Kavaja, where Veliaj publicly denounced the case, even sending a letter to ambassadors regarding the event, which turned out to be a fabricated event since there was no kidnapping or pregnancy.

Continuing with the public deception that has been going on for 336 days regarding prosecutor Ols Dado, who according to the mayor has launched investigations for personal revenge after not accepting a request for an extension on the construction permit, a document that Veliaj and his family journalist Mero Baze have not published for 336 days, deceiving the public about the prosecutor and not substantiate the accusations against him.

It continues with the wiretaps from Durrës prison, which CNA has published, showing how he directed the media to develop a campaign of attacks through the media, the deception that the prosecutor, an active member of the DP, put in prison, etc., and others that CNA has listed through several articles.

But it seems that the saga of Veliaj's fraud and the Tirana Municipality institution does not end.

For 6 months now, CNA has been sending several letters to the Municipality of Tirana and the Commissioner for the Right to Information and Personal Data, requesting transparency on how many advertisements, banners, and LED-walls have been placed at various events, in "Skënderbej" Square, in "Mother Teresa" Square, but also in other places where various activities have been held in the capital.

With official requests, referring to the Constitution and the law, we requested the areas used for advertising, the contracts that the Municipality of Tirana has made with the company that will manage the activity.

In addition to contracts or surfaces, we requested information on the data and revenues generated, that is, the income that the Municipality of Tirana benefited from, the income that the citizens of Tirana benefited from the development of these activities, because the municipality was both a sponsor and a beneficiary.

What is happening? Fraud by the Municipality of Tirana

Another fraud is being committed by officials who are hiding data on the requests that CNA has been sending to the Municipality of Tirana for months.

Tirana Municipality officials are committing a criminal act and have deceived an institution such as the Commissioner for the Right to Information and Personal Data Protection.

Official sources from the Municipality of Tirana told CNA that the files and information that CNA is requesting are located at the Municipality of Tirana.

They have every piece of data in hard copies, of public spaces and advertising contracts for the years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025.

The same sources emphasized that these materials have been received and are being investigated by SPAK. CNA has had continuous requests to the Municipality of Tirana.

The case ended up with the Commissioner for the Right to Information and Personal Data Protection, where the Municipality of Tirana claimed that after a cyber attack, some of the systems and services were interrupted and this led to the compromise of a significant number of end-user computer devices, where as a result, the local data stored on the affected devices, which were not available in central systems, in backup copies or on other institutional platforms, were not technically recoverable after replacing the storage media and cannot be restored.

In fact, this is nothing more than a huge public fraud like the frauds of their president, who is behind bars in Durres prison on 13 charges for 5 serious criminal offenses.

But CNA will not stop.

We have again requested official information from the Municipality of Tirana and after completing all legal avenues up to the level of the Commissioner for the Right to Information and Personal Data Protection, CNA will go to court and file a criminal complaint with SPAK for abuse of office and suspected corruption, concealment of data, done by several officials including the acting Mayor Anuela Ristan, the Secretary General and the entire chain that conceals data regarding the requests made by CNA.

It is no longer possible for an institution shrouded in scandals, affairs, and corruption, with the mayor arrested on 13 serious criminal charges, with directors in prison, and officials under investigation, to mock the media and hide the truth.

The citizens of Tirana, the taxpayers, need to know who has benefited from the mismanagement of this institution or who has found room to abuse and line their pockets through schemes recommended by the leaders of this municipality./ CNA

For 6 months now, CNA has been sending several letters to the Municipality of Tirana and the Commissioner for the Right to Information and Personal Data, requesting transparency on how many advertisements, banners, and LED-walls have been placed at various events, in "Skënderbej" Square, in "Mother Teresa" Square, but also in other places where various activities have been held in the capital.

With official requests, referring to the Constitution and the law, we requested the areas used for advertising, the contracts that the Municipality of Tirana has made with the company that will manage the activity.

In addition to contracts or surfaces, we requested information on the data and revenues generated, that is, the income that the Municipality of Tirana benefited from, the income that the citizens of Tirana benefited from the development of these activities, because the municipality was both a sponsor and a beneficiary.

The response of the Karagjoz of Tirana

After several letters written over months, the Municipality of Tirana has provided a response, which came on July 7, one day before the confrontation that was scheduled to take place in a hearing session on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.

But, just one day before the showdown, the Commissioner for the Right to Information officially announced its postponement, and the reason was the absence of the acting mayor of Tirana, Anuela Ristani.

In the response returned by the Municipality of Tirana, dated July 7 and signed by General Director Erion Çaka, it is very clear what CNA is requesting, but the response given by this institution is truncated and incomplete.

What CNA has requested are the public areas provided for use for events in the main squares of Tirana for the years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and how much advertising space and space rented to companies are there, as well as the income collected by the Municipality of Tirana.
While in the letter the Municipality of Tirana clearly states the information requested by CNA, the response is mocking.

The Municipality of Tirana only provides the events that took place in 2025 and no other data, neither the areas given for advertising, nor the areas rented for events, nor the income that the Municipality of Tirana received from these events.

So, the information provided is not accurate, the required data for the years 2022, 2023, 2024 is missing.

We have asked how much space has been given for use for activities in the main squares, how much space is for advertising, LED walls, and space rented to companies, as well as the income received by the Municipality of Tirana.

What the Municipality of Tirana provides in response is only the list of activities for 2025 and no other data, neither the advertising areas, ledwalls, nor the areas rented to companies, nor the revenues collected by the Municipality of Tirana, where CNA suspects fraud, theft, and abuse by companies.

Abuses and concealment of advertising revenues at public events taking place in Tirana, some of which pass through Arbër Veliaj's companies.

From these events, CNA has determined that one of the advertisers is the brother of the arrested mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj.

The Municipality of Tirana cannot mock the media and Albanian taxpayers.

CNA will continue to insist on demanding transparency and accountability. Officials who do not respond or give such vague responses will be held legally responsible, as we will continue to demand the data as we have been doing for 6 months.

It is no longer possible for an institution shrouded in scandals, affairs, and corruption, with the mayor arrested on 13 serious criminal charges, with directors in prison, and officials under investigation, to mock the media and hide the truth.

Every official still remaining in that municipality must at least have the courage and legal responsibility, just like those who have already provided us with the information, to publish and make transparent the requested data.

This obligation is not only towards CNA, but towards the citizens of Tirana, the public and taxpayers, who need to know who has benefited from the mismanagement of this institution or who has found room to abuse and line their pockets through schemes recommended by the leaders of this municipality./ CNA

Four months ago, on March 11, CNA sent an official letter to the Municipality of Tirana, requesting information regarding the advertising surfaces placed at events held by the Municipality of Tirana.

So, simply put, we asked for information on how many advertisements, banners, and LED walls were placed at various events, in "Skënderbej" Square, "Mother Teresa" Square, but also for other places where various activities were held.

With official requests, referring to the Constitution and the law, we requested the areas used for advertising, the contracts that the Municipality of Tirana has made with the company that will manage the activity.

In addition to contracts or surfaces, we requested information on the data and revenues generated, that is, the revenues that the Municipality of Tirana benefited from, that is, the revenues that the citizens of Tirana benefited from the development of these activities, because the municipality was both a sponsor and a beneficiary.

We have sent several letters to the Municipality of Tirana and the Commissioner for the Right to Information and Personal Data Protection regarding this issue, and we have also written publicly regarding this issue. We have received zero responses, only wordplay.

The Municipality of Tirana, instead of being transparent and providing answers to a request that is not only of interest to the media, is silent, hiding what only municipal officials know.

The requested information is of interest to the public, to taxpayers, who want to know what happens to the revenues that the municipality collects and is supposed to manage or increase.

What is the reason that the Municipality of Tirana hides the data requested by CNA?

Are the contracts for renting advertising space in various activities, developed by the Municipality of Tirana, on paper many times smaller than in reality? Are they passed through marketing companies directly and indirectly linked to the brother of the mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj?

In fact, the concealment of this data by the Municipality of Tirana makes all municipal officials collaborators who do not respond, but in various ways avoid requests and do not provide transparency.

In the only response sent by the Municipality of Tirana, they sent us an example of a blank contract, showing how it is applied.

By failing to respond, officials are abusing their power. Even though their president is in prison, and even though directors or officials of this institution are under investigation, they still dare to hide information.

This constitutes another scandal involving the Municipality of Tirana, failing to respond to requests for transparency on what could be another affair./ CNA