Albania

Librazhd: Qukes road section in East-West Corridor	On the road to Berat	Rehabilitated berths in Durres Port

Albania inherited a poor road and highway system from the pre-transition period. Only nine percent of rural households own a car or truck, or have access to one. Over the last several years, the government has invested in national highways running West-East and North-South. However, there are not enough of these investments and the quality of existing roads makes travel difficult and slow. Rural areas are most often cut off from the rest of the country and more than 75% of rural households still walk to and from work today. The road system is affecting delivery of education services also, as about 90% of students travel to school on foot, and it is likely that the distance to schools is decreasing attendance. Rural inhabitants, local leaders, and central government leaders agree that an inadequate road system is holding back economic growth. Farmers are having difficulty accessing local markets with their produce and livestock. It is clear that the lack of adequate roads, along with other rural infrastructure problems, is driving much of the rural-urban migration.

Political leaders agree that a more modern transport system is needed in order to sustain economic expansion and domestic and foreign investment. They want to promote investment in the East-West trans-European transport network, involving road, rail and pipelines, linking the Adriatic and the Black Sea (the so-called Corridor VIII). The government has also made some limited improvements to the North-South railway. But despite the commitments made by the government and the international financial organizations during the recent years, there are no evident improvements of the situation yet because comprehensive completed projects and studies are missing and because of the limited financial resources and the negative influence of the internal and regional upheavals.

The main objectives for the sector include: (i) establishing a modern infrastructure network for an effective transport system to facilitate growth; (ii) increasing efficiency of cost recovery in transport operations by reducing the demand on the state budget; (iii) streamlining of transport operations with the aim of increasing economic efficiency, road safety, and environment protection; and (iv) promoting cooperation with the private sector and the development in the context of the Stability Pact. The measures and policies that the government foresees to achieve these strategic objectives include:

i) Reforming of the administration: The government plans to revise and restructure the functions of the Ministry of Transport, including reorganizing the General Road Directorate (GRD) and the Regional Road Maintenance Units. The government also wants to improve the road safety programs and establish an Albanian Maritime Administration. The road maintenance and the privatization of the enterprises under the authority of the GRD will be retrofitted and financing of road maintenance should increase. The government wants to implement a road safety program (rehabilitation of the vehicle inspection centers; improvement of information systems for vehicle registration, and training of the drivers and public awareness). Work is underway to such effects, in the Institutional Actions to be adopted (22kb, MS Word) within the framework of the Road Safety Initiative under the Road Management Project.

ii) Improvement of the road transport system: The planned activities include: (i) completion of rehabilitation and construction of the East-West and North-South national road corridors and their respective branches; (ii) improvement of the urban and rural road infrastructure and road safety system (traffic lighting, road signs/marking, road traffic control etc.); (iii) completion of the detailed design for the construction of Durres-Kukes-Morine and Tirana-Klos-Peshkopi-Bllate roads; (iv) accomplishment of studies for the construction of Vlore-Sarande tourism road and other sections of tourism roads.

iii) Improvement of the maritime transport system: This will include (i) completion of civil works in Durres Port according to a Development Master Plan (rehabilitation of the quays, construction of the ferry terminal and of the transit sheds; establishment of Port Authority and the Customs Controlled Area (ii) completion of the civil works in the Port of Vlore (rehabilitation of the quays and mechanization of the port); (iii) implementation of the proposed interventions and civil works according to the Secondary Ports Master Plan of Sarande and Shengjin;(iv) establishment of the Albanian Maritime Administration. For more information please consult the Port Authority Law (1.27MB, pdf).

iv) Improvement of the railway transport system: This will aim to (i) reform the railway administration and operations; (ii) installment of telephone and signalization systems; (iii) starting the renovation of the rolling stock;

v) Improvement of civil aviation transport: It will focus on (i) the construction of the new passenger terminal in Rinas airport (with a concessionary contract); (ii) continue the implementation of the Air Traffic Control Master Plan; (iii) the development of local airports.

The World Bank transport portfolio is based on the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy developed by the government (GPRS). In that context, the Bank has financed the emergency repair of selected sections on the road from Durres to Kukes and to the Kosovo border (through the Emergency Road Repair Project --picture on the left). Three projects financed by the Bank are ongoing: (i) the Trade and Transport Facilitation in Southeast Europe Project (credit of US$12.3 million equivalent), (ii) the Durres Port Project (credit of US$17.0 million) and (iii) The Road Maintenance Project (credit of US$30.0 million equivalent), while the first Transport Project (credit US$ 15.0 million equivalent, (ii) the National Roads Project (credit of US$25.0 million equivalent), (ii) the Emergency Road Repair Project (credit of US$13.64 million equivalent) are now successfully completed. A future transport project is also under preparation. See the project page (link on the left panel) for more detailed information.