Durrës Marina collected 22 million euros in 2023 from the sale of apartments "in the air"

2024-10-21 07:18:00, Ekonomi CNA

Durrës Marina collected 22 million euros in 2023 from the sale of

A large investment advertised as strategic of 2 billion euros, that of the Navy in Durres, in the area where the Port of Durres is located today, is not turning out to be strategic at all.

Although this is an investment that has benefited from tax exemptions, even infrastructure, as well as received a large area of ??free property for development, the investor, in the first year of activity, has only collected money from the sale of apartments in "air".

"Durrës Marina sha", the company that is managing the strategic project of the Marina of yachts in Durrës, has collected from customers about 22 million euros in 2023, although the construction of the apartments for the most part had not started.

The data is disclosed in the company's 2023 balance sheet, where the item "Liabilities from contracts with clients" is 2.2 billion ALL, or about 22 million euros. This item, according to the balance sheet, includes: "obligations from contracts with customers are obligations to transfer construction units to customers for which the Company has received an advance payment".

However, the company has declared zero income, because "the Company will recognize the income from the sale of properties at the moment when control of the asset is transferred to the client". The losses were 517 million ALL.

Although the company presented itself as an investor, it turns out that it is collecting money from customer prepayments, which are a "significant component of financing," according to the independent auditors' report.

"Generally, the Company collects long-term prepayments from customers. The company has come to the conclusion that for these contracts we have the inclusion of an important financing component".

According to the report, "While the property is under construction, the Company collects prepayments from customers according to the terms of the contract, which are recognized as contractual obligations and not as revenue, due to the timing of revenue recognition."

Meanwhile, the company says in the 2023 annual report that the construction process had not yet started.

The company, according to the report, has spent a total of about 8 million euros for the development of the Durrës Yachts & Marina project until December 31, 2023, of which about 5 million euros were design costs and the rest for inventories.

Meanwhile, the company has received the construction permit for the first three buildings.

The company started selling at the end of 2022

The sale of apartments in the area where the strategic project will be developed was announced at the end of 2022.

Since that time, the company has opened several times the process of selling different buildings, as the price has continuously increased, reaching over 2,600 euros/m2, from around 1,500-1,600 euros that started sales at the beginning.

Not only did the sales begin without obtaining the construction permit, but the contract stipulated that 40% of the value of the apartments will be paid before obtaining the construction permit, divided into 20% of the purchase price to be paid within 5 days of signing. of the Preliminary Agreement of Sale; 10% of the purchase price to be paid no later than 3 months from the date of the construction permit and 10% of the purchase price to be paid no later than 6 months from the date of the construction permit.

The company and the project, the capital of the main shareholder is reduced to 2 million euros

Durrës Marina Sha. was established in Tirana as a joint stock company on January 30, 2023. Its activity is the development of real estate, for various uses, in accordance with the Master Plan of the Durrës Marina company, as well as the operation and management of various business activities in accordance with the Business Plan of the Durres Yachts & Marina project.

The company has been granted the Status of "Investment/Strategic Investor" for the investment project "Durrës Yachts & Marina", for a period of 20 years, according to the Framework Agreement on Yachts and Marina Durrës between the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania and Eagle Hills Real Estate Development and Albanian Seaports Development Company, signed on January 30, 2023.

The property on which the project will be developed is owned by the Albanian Seaport Development Company. Referring to the development agreement between Durrës Marina Sha and the Albanian Seaport Development company dated July 19, 2023, the property will be available to the project developer respecting the delivery deadlines specified in the contract.

Eagle Hills Real Estate Development owns 67% of the shares in Durrës Marina, while the company representing the Albanian side, Albanian Seaports Development Company, holds 33% of the shares.

The company Eagle Hills Real Estate Development represents the businessman from the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed Alabbar, in the investment. This company has made a capital increase of 7 million euros in July 2023. At the end of 2023, according to the balance sheet, the capital had decreased to 2 million euros, due to the deduction of losses carried forward.

The Albanian side has contributed the land where the Durrës Marina residential complex will be built. In February 2023, the Albanian government transferred to the Albanian shareholder a list of 281 state properties for a total area of ??818 thousand m2, area that will be used for the purpose of the project.

In addition to providing the land, the Albanian government will release the company from the obligation to pay the infrastructure impact tax and the social housing fund, which are estimated at around 7% of the estimated sales value.

In total, the construction of nearly 13,000 apartments is foreseen (4,000 in the first phase and about 8,600 in the second phase), while only a few hotels with more than 850 rooms will do so. Only 280 berths are provided for the yacht. 93% of the projected construction area will be residential and 3.5% will be hotels and commercial areas, respectively.

The project is expected to have a value of around two billion euros, but only a small part of it will be financed with the capitals of the main investor, Mohamed Alabbar. Most of the residential complex will be financed by the sale of properties before their construction and eventually from other sources, such as bank financing.

Even the apartment financing scheme is similar to what usually happens in the country, enabling prepayments, ie. the sale of apartments in the air. The estimated investment in the first phase is 595 million euros. Investing companies are required to keep in their accounts an amount corresponding to thirty percent (30%) of the financing needed for the development of the square in phase 1, i.e. about 180 million euros, while they can collect income from sales, or bring in other financiers.

The whole project is expected to generate in 35 years about 3.2 billion euros of income. Of the total amount of income, 2.26 billion euros, or 70% of the total income, will be generated from the sale of apartments./ Monitor Magazine