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Why the Vlora Airport Concession Conflict Is More Likely to Be a “Bargain-Breaker”

2025-10-21 17:39:00, Opinione Ola Xama

Why the Vlora Airport Concession Conflict Is More Likely to Be a

Why is the conflict over the Vlora Airport Concession more likely to be a "deal breaker" than a fear of Russian financing (as one side claims), or protection of investor rights (which is the other side's claim)?!

1. The concession contract does not allow for a change of shareholders without the approval of the Contracting Authority and in this case the share sale agreement between the two parties (2A Group and Mabco Construction) has no legal value. If 2A Group has invested 22.8 million euros as it claims and owns 49% of the shares in this contract, it must have had assurance from the authorities for this approval because it has no experience in the field of airport construction and management. (https://arbk.rks-gov.net/TableDetails data according to ARBK extract)

3. Even the approval for the sale of shares by the Turks of YDA to the company Mabco Construction was made in violation. This is clearly seen from the decision to approve the sale made by the Minister of Infrastructure and Energy. In the last paragraph of the letter it is stated that “the concessionaire must continue to guarantee financial, technical and operational capacity”. So, the approval was made without guaranteeing the continuation of technical and financial capacity!

4. The loan agreement between Mabco Construction and Delphos Securities SARL, which allows access to the revenue accounts of the concessionaire company without obtaining the approval of the Contracting Authority, is also a violation and a criterion for the Contracting Authority to consider a breach of contract. The disclosure of this loan should have put the financial intelligence authorities in the country in motion and not ended in a media war!

And what is most important:

5. Whether the money lent is Russian, no one knows. Delphos Securities is registered in an offshore jurisdiction and the real owners are unknown. But we are assuming that this is Russian money. The main question that arises is: does this alleged control risk in the airport concession disappear if 2A Group takes 47% plus 2% (which it currently has) of the shares? Again, Mabco Construction has control with 51%! The risk of Russian financing continues…

What should have happened in a normal situation where the state enforces the rules and laws? From the moment the ownership changes and the main company that met the technical criteria leaves the concession, the institutions should have sought its replacement with a similar firm that met the same conditions. If this did not happen, the contract would be terminated and the competition would have to be opened from scratch!

But as the 2A Group company itself admits in the lawsuit submitted to the justice authorities, the profits from the concession contract are huge: 734 million euros for 35 years, or 21 million euros per year! Therefore, the fight for a few more shares is strong./ CNA