Albcontrol, the public company in charge of the Air Navigation Services of Albania, predicts that its funds at Eurocontol will remain blocked until March next year.

At least until then, it is expected to reach the value of Euro 140 million collected, which is the obligation of the Albanian state to the Italian investor Francesco Becchetti, to whom the Court of International Arbitration granted the right regarding the case won against the Albanian state.

The report of the High State Control, for the implementation of the actual 2023 budget, underlines, among other things, these details regarding the progress of obligations in international arbitrations.

"The audit in the Ministry of Finance has shown that, according to the information filed by the company Albcontrol, the income realized from the services provided by this company to Eurocontrol has been blocked. For the period December 9, 2020, to December 15, 2023, the fund accumulated and blocked by Eurocontrol is in the amount of Euro 90,539,688. These funds, referring to the issue of International Arbitration, are expected to continue to be blocked until the collection of the amount of Euro 140 million, which according to the company's forecasts can be reached in March 2025. This matter has not been referred either by the State Attorney's Office or by the Ministry of Finance, adding to the risks for public finances," says the report of the State Supreme Audit.

The genesis of the clash between the state and the investor began in June 2015, when Francesco Becchetti's assets were blocked.

The blocking of these assets also led to the closing of the Agon Channel television, an element that was used by Becchetti to take the case to Arbitration.

Albania's confrontation with the Italian investor, Francesco Becchetti, at the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, ended with a decision in his favor, awarding him a compensation of Euro 110 million in 2020.

On May 26, 2021, at the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), another request from Albania was presented. But in April 2023, Becchetti finally won the Arbitration with the Albanian government.