The albanian government owes 180 million Euros from lost court cases with businesses

The Albanian government is facing financial liabilities of around 180 million euros from cases that have been lost or are pending before international arbitration courts, according to data from the Ministry of Finance for the end of 2024.

This amount includes both outstanding debts arising from final court decisions, as well as contingent liabilities, which may arise in the future in the event of a negative decision for the state.

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In detail, from the total amount:

69.4 million euros concern already confirmed and unpaid obligations from final court decisions.

110.5 million euros are recorded as contingent liabilities from pending cases in international arbitration courts – amounts that are not yet counted in the public debt, unless there is a final decision against the state.

The most important case concerns the company “Hydro dhe të

Although the arbitration has been concluded in Becchetti's favor since April 2023 (after a long-running dispute that began in June 2015, when authorities froze his assets), this amount is still recorded as a contingent liability by the Ministry of Finance.

Becchetti is now trying to collect the money from Albanian state accounts abroad, mainly from the company Albcontrol, which manages air traffic and has accounts with Eurocontrol in Brussels, which have been frozen since 2021.

According to Albcontrol's annual report, the loss from the "freezing" of these accounts amounts to approximately 105 million euros by the end of 2023. To cover its obligations, the company has received loans from the state and other state-owned enterprises amounting to 74 million euros.

So far, the state has spent €6.7 million on legal costs in the Becchetti case, of which only half has been paid.

Copri Actors (Greek company): Claim of 42.4 million euros for a project on the Tirana-Elbasan highway. The decision has been issued in favor of the company, but no amount has been paid by the end of 2024.

Construzioni Dondi (Italian company): Compensation of 13.4 million euros for unilateral cancellation of a contract by the National Water Authority in 2018, related to a sewage project in Tirana.

GBC Oil Company Ltd.: The Albanian State and the state-owned company Albpetrol were ordered to pay 12.24 million euros due to violation of a fiscal stability clause in contracts for three oil fields (Gorisht-Kocul, Cakran-Mollaj, Ballsh-Hekal).

Overall picture

Initially, total arbitration liabilities amounted to €206.8 million, of which €79.5 million are recognized as direct liabilities. Of this, €23.4 million has been paid, reducing the total balance to €179.94 million at the end of 2024.

For 2024, only €4.88 million was spent on legal expenses.

According to the Ministry Of finance, for the same year, total legal expenses amounted to 495,700 euros, which were distributed as follows:

143,400 euros from the Ministry of Finance for legal services.

223,000 euros from the Durres Port Authority for court and legal costs.

56,200 euros from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy.

52,200 euros from Albpetrol for legal representation.

20,900 euros from the Ministry of Agriculture for an arbitration case.

EMS Shipping Case

For the dispute with the German company EMS Shipping & Trading GmbH and Durrës Kurum, the state paid approximately 2.2 million euros for legal and administrative costs.

The German company had filed a lawsuit in April 2023, demanding 40 million euros in compensation for discriminatory and unequal treatment under a concession contract to manage the bulk cargo terminal in the eastern port of Durres. In August 2024, the case was withdrawn, but the state bore the costs of the proceedings.