International investment, loans secured to rebuild Albania's port of Durresi

To make Albania's main port of Durres one of the major points of trade, as well as a gateway to the region and beyond, the international community has approved almost 40m euros for the port's reconstruction.

Last week, Minister of Finance Ridvan Bode and EBRD representative in Tirana Murat Yildiran signed an agreement for a 14m-euro loan. The 15-year-long loan, with a three-year grace period and low interest, is just part of the 40m euros invested by the EU, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Albanian government.

The plan for the port includes building a new passenger terminal and improving other infrastructure. The project has three main components -- new investments, rehabilitation and general construction supervision. Expected completion is in October 2010.

"This project brings the total EBRD portfolio to 90m euros for this sector in Albania," Yildiran said. He added that the EBRD hopes to increase its credit portfolio in the country to 120m euros by the end of the year.

Transport Minister Sokol Olldashi said the new project aims to increase the volume of goods and passengers passing through Durres. It now processes 3m tonnes of goods and 700,000 passengers annually. From January to April, the trade volume at the port increased 14% year-on-year.

Durres is also important to the tourism sector. It is considered Albania's gate -- not only for the arrival and departure of ships carrying goods, but also for passengers -- as it is connected daily with ferries to the Italian ports of Bari and Brindisi.

There are five such ports open to international traffic: Durres, Vlora, Saranda, Shengjin and Himara -- with an average of about 5m tonnes of cargo a year. Durres is the biggest -- handling roughly 90% of the country's international maritime trade tonnage, and 65% of the country's total export and import trade.

As the western end of the Pan-European Transport Corridor VIII, Durres has an essential role to play in the economic development of the country and the Western Balkan region, the EIB says.