'Durana, the Latest Invention of the Head of the Organization,' Ahmetaj Says: The Virtual Park in Xhafzotaj Has Been Granted to 46 Companies That…

Former second-in-command of the government, Arben Ahmetaj, has continued his denunciations and accusations of systemic corruption, state capture, and the misuse of public funds, targeting senior government figures and exposing alleged schemes affecting strategic sectors and national infrastructure.

In his fourth exclusive interview with Çim Peka Live on Syri TV, Ahmetaj also denounced the technology park in Xhafzotaj. He described the project as a “virtual park,” a fraudulent mechanism allegedly designed to allow around 46 companies, claimed to be linked to political power and criminal groups, to evade taxes.

Although these companies operate in other areas, such as Tirana, they register their address in this park to benefit from tax exemptions, causing significant financial damage to the state.

“You now have a new invention called Durana. What is this? What is it? Durana is supposedly a technology park. Do you know how much I worked as a minister? I went home at 11:00 at night. Now we are at the tip of the iceberg. That’s why he wants me dead, he curses and insults me. Of course. Because I was never his depository. Never. And it would have been a great disgrace if he had protected me. Today, it would be my greatest shame if I had been protected by a man who has turned Albania into a garden of drug cartels. A garden of drug cartels. And there are no medicines for oncology there. Fifty million here, 250 million there. A Garden of Eden, supposedly.

Mr. Peka, please let me speak to the citizens, because I know you will take these things and present them. Durana should have been a park as defined by Law No. 58 of 2022, which explicitly defines what a technological and scientific park is: a designated area of land and/or buildings which, by a decision of the Council of Ministers, is declared a park and enjoys a special status of economic and fiscal development, equivalent to a free zone under the customs code.

So the park must have geographic boundaries, entry and exit gates, and the operation of a customs point. What happens in Xhafzotaj? I’ll be brief. What has this been used for? It has been used to deceive Albanians so that a group of companies do not pay taxes, companies linked to those in power. I have here 26 companies that have received authorizations. I invite Albanians to go to Xhafzotaj and see whether this park exists or not. It is a virtual park. The law does not recognize a virtual park, where you supposedly register your address in Xhafzotaj, work in the Blloku area of Tirana, and pay no taxes. This is a deception of Albanians. And here are the companies. This is a virtual model.

Again, the same ones close to power. Are these not them? Here is the list of companies. I will give it to you. Let me show Albanians the list first, because then they start saying, as a paid mouthpiece usually does, that this is not true. Here is the list of those benefiting from exemptions. They are linked to AKSHI. They have paid zero taxes. They have deceived Albanians, and there is no money for oncology, no money for pensions. How could there be? Fifty here, fifty there, 250 here, 300 there. Take some from one side, some from another, and then Lidl becomes a geographic and logistical power in the new Port of Durrës. What is left for Albanians? The cost of the port. That’s what’s left.

Let me organize this a bit, Mr. Peka. This is Durana, the latest invention benefiting 40 businesses. The latest invention of Elira together with the head of the organization. This is Durana. Investigate it. I want as little of this as possible. I don’t want to be proven right.

By this standard, Mr. Dumani should have charged all of these people, he should have had all of them in the picture, but these are not Ben Ahmetaj, the enemy of the head of the organization. Take the combination involving one of the secret tenders, where Igli Tafa gives Firs 15 million, and partially, according to open data, there may be more that I could not see, a secret cybersecurity tender to a company that has effectively been accused by SPAK of being part of a structured criminal group. The contract is dated 7 October 2024; the partial payment is listed under contract number 4837. This is one piece of evidence.

The other is when the Durana law was passed. Here you have Elira Kokona with Ermal Beqiri, promoting interests. And on the list of companies, you have two companies belonging to Ermal Beqiri within Durana, let me show Albanians for illustration. He promotes this man who gives them tenders, who has effectively handed over AKSHI as his private garden. This is done by Ermal Beqiri’s association. He gives tenders; they provide promotion.

This may seem irrelevant because it involves the former Municipality of Tirana. One person has their house demolished, another their hotel, another their business; someone is sent to prison. Someone else’s land is expropriated from a private owner for €2.9 million and given to Carlo Bollino. Meanwhile, I have documents here showing that whenever I refused and whenever I left, the opposite occurred.”