Details revealed/ SPAK, official announcement on security measures against Balluk, director of KESH and ARRSH

2025-11-20 18:16:00, Aktualitet CNA

Details revealed/ SPAK, official announcement on security measures against

SPAK investigation into the procurement procedures of the Llogara tunnel and the Outer Ring Road, security measures are assigned to the defendants

The Special Prosecution Office for Corruption and Organized Crime announces that, following the investigations into criminal proceedings no. 136 of 2025, violations of the equality of participants in public tenders and auctions have been identified, within the framework of two important procurement procedures:

Construction of the Llogara tunnel, part of the Orikum-Himarë road section of the SH8 highway (Vlorë-Sarandë), with a limited fund of 18,967,810,952 lekë excluding VAT, developed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy.

Construction of the Tirana Outer Ring Road, Lot 4, with number REF-02817-08-13-2021 and a limit fund of 2,096,958,794 lek excluding VAT, developed by the Albanian Road Authority.

In connection with the procurement procedure with the object, "Construction of the Llogara tunnel" on the Orikum-Himarë road section, part of the SH8 highway (Vlorë-Sarandë), developed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, up to this stage of the investigation, illegal actions of the defendant Belinda Balluku have been identified. In her capacity as Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, she has continuously followed and guided the procedure of this public procurement, from the preparatory phase, the development of the procedure, the submission and evaluation of the offers, until the moment of concluding the contract with the winning economic operator.

Defendant Belinda Balluku, in collaboration with the members of the Bid Evaluation Commission, defendants; Evis Berberi, Gentian Gjyli, Erald Elezi, Jetmira Dervishi and Mirzeta Kashnica, have predetermined the winner of this procurement procedure, have created unfair advantages and privileges for the union of the winning economic operators "I….and A…..".

At the time of the performance of the actions for this procurement procedure, the defendants had the functional duties; Evis Berberi, General Director of the Albanian Road Authority, Erald Elezi, Director of the Directorate of Strategic Planning and Operations at the Albanian Road Authority, Gentian Gjyli, Director of the Directorate of Construction and Maintenance at the Albanian Road Authority, Jetmira Dervishi and Mirzeta Kashnica, High Level Specialists at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy.

Regarding the procurement procedure with the object, "Construction of the Tirana Outer Ring Road, Lot 4", with number REF-02817-08-13-2021, with a limit fund of 2,096,958,794.70 lek excluding VAT, it has resulted that the defendant Belinda Balluku, in her capacity as Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, has continuously followed and guided the procedure of this public procurement conducted by the Institution under this Ministry, the Albanian Road Authority, in the preparatory phase, development of the procedure, submission and evaluation of the bids.

Defendant Belinda Balluku in collaboration with defendant Evis Berberi, members of the Procurement Unit, citizens J.Ç, AK, D.Xh, members of the Bid Evaluation Commission, Erald Elezi and citizens KK, M.Sh., have predetermined the winner of this procurement procedure, created unfair advantages and privileges for the merger of economic operators, “E…” sh.pk, “P…”sh.pk, and “N…”sh.pk

During these two procurement procedures, actions were identified in violation of the law, no. 162/2020, "On Public Procurement", Council of Ministers No. 285, dated 19.05.2021, "On the approval of public procurement rules", law no. 9367, dated 07.04.2005 "On the Prevention of Conflict of Interest in the Exercise of Public Functions", as amended.

Following the request submitted by the Special Prosecution Office, the Special Court of First Instance, with decision no. 118, dated 19.11.2025, has decided:

The imposition of a coercive personal security measure, “Prohibition of leaving the country” and a prohibitive personal security measure, “Suspension of exercising a public duty or service”, (suspension from holding high state positions such as Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy), provided for in Articles 233 and 242 of the Criminal Procedure Code, against the defendant Belinda Balluku, accused of committing the criminal offense, “Violation of equality of participants in tenders or public auctions”, committed in collaboration, provided for in Articles 258/2 and 25 of the Criminal Code, in relation to the criminal fact relating to the procurement procedure with the object of “Construction of the Llogara tunnel” and suspected of committing the criminal offense, “Violation of equality of participants in tenders or public auctions”, committed in collaboration, provided for in Articles 258/2 and 25 of the Criminal Code, in relation to the criminal fact relating to the procurement procedure with the object "Construction of the Tirana Outer Ring Road, Lot 4".

The imposition of a coercive personal security measure, "House arrest", provided for by Article 237 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, against the defendant Gentian Gjyli, accused of committing the criminal offense, "Violation of equality of participants in tenders or public auctions", committed in collaboration, provided for by Articles 258/2 and 25 of the Criminal Code, in relation to the criminal fact relating to the procurement procedure with the object "Construction of the Llogara tunnel".

The imposition of a coercive personal security measure, "House arrest", provided for by Article 237 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, against the defendant Erald Elezi, accused of committing the criminal offense, "Violation of equality of participants in tenders or public auctions", committed in collaboration, provided for by Articles 258/2 and 25 of the Criminal Code, in relation to the criminal fact relating to the procurement procedure with the object, "Construction of the Llogara Tunnel" and suspected of committing the criminal offense, "Violation of equality of participants in tenders or public auctions", committed in collaboration, provided for by Articles 258/2 and 25 of the Criminal Code, in relation to the criminal fact relating to the procurement procedure with the object "Construction of the Tirana Outer Ring Road, Lot 4".

On 20.11.2025, the following personal security measures were executed:

Personal security measure "Prohibition of leaving the country" and "Suspension of exercising a public duty or service", (suspension from high state functions such as Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy), provided for by articles 233 and 242 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, against the defendant Belinda Balluku.

Personal security measures "House arrest", provided for by Article 237 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, against the defendants Gentian Gjyli and Erald Elezi.

The investigations so far have been conducted through special methods, the collection of digital evidence, and the performance of other investigative actions. Meanwhile, the Special Prosecution Office continues the investigations for this criminal proceeding.