The government has great needs for investments in infrastructure, especially in water supply, transport and energy, but the government's efforts to solve these problems through public-private partnership agreements, it seems, will further complicate the situation in the field of infrastructure than will facilitate it.

The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in a recent study on the untapped potential of the Albanian economy noted that PPPs have often not been the right choice to solve Albania's infrastructure problems.

The high level of public debt has significantly limited the budget space for infrastructure expenditures. "While the government has tried to mobilize private capital through PPPs, the excessive use of PPPs, in a context of limited transparency and poor oversight has resulted in the accumulation of significant contingent liabilities," the Bank said.

Most PPPs are engaged in major energy and transportation projects, for which the government has provided price or volume guarantees.

According to the World Bank, most of the existing PPP contracts have been awarded through unsolicited proposals and lack of competition, prohibiting the participation of foreign investors.

During the restructuring of the Ministry of Finance and Economy in 2018, the government established a Fiscal Risk Unit to manage the fiscal risks arising from PPPs implemented by line ministries, but this unit still lacks the capacity to perform key functions, noted the Bank.

New guidelines were adopted in March 2018 aimed at limiting the acceptance of unsolicited PPP bids, and the 2019 draft budget included a list of approved PPPs.

Despite these improvements, transparency regarding the use of PPPs remains limited, according to the Bank.