The Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy said it has selected the temporary merger of the local companies Marina di Valona, Brunes, Ndregjoni and UK-based Marina Projects as winner in a tender for awarding a concession contract for the design, construction, operation, maintenance and transfer of a small port for yachts and small boats in the southern coastal city of Vlora.

According to the tender notice, the winning joint venture will invest a total of Euro 22.8 million, value-added tax (VAT) excluded, for the construction of the port of Vlora.

Referring to the announcement of the Infrastructure Ministry, three companies participated in the tender where the other two were the local companies Albavia and Gjikuria.

The Bid Evaluation Committee has disqualified the other two companies because of the lack of documents in the application. None of the disqualified has filed an appeal against the decision of the Committee.

The projected location of the facility is located in the center of the city of Vlora and specifically in the current port of this city which is under the administration of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy.

The tender for the small port of Vlora was opened in January by the Infrastructure Ministry. The proposed term of the concession contract will be 35 years, the infrastructure ministry said in a tender notice published by Albania’s public procurement agency at the time. The small port is expected to give a boost to tourism in the region.

The marina will be adapted to accommodate boats and yachts and create an area with commercial and tourist services, while the cargo port will be relocated to the Triport area in Vlora.

The new small port is part of the Master Plan of Lungomare in Vlora, which will occupy a considerable area of the port, together with a public park that will extend from Skela area to Lungomare.

In January, a few weeks after the signing of the agreement for the transformation of the Port of Durrës into one of the largest tourist ports in the Adriatic, the Albanian government said it started official talks with representatives of the Emirati multinational real estate development company Emaar Group.

The investment has a total cost of Euro 2 billion and will be made entirely by the company Emaar. The project foresees the construction of a marina adapted for yachts, a modern passenger terminal and new buildings along it, which will have commercial and hotel purposes. Despite the plan to relocate the commercial Port of Durrës to Porto Romano area, it has been agreed that the passenger terminal will stay in the Marina of Durrës.