Albania hires Kuwaiti’s CGC to build Fier bypass road
Albanian Road Authority ARRSH has signed a 38 million euro ($43.3 million) contract with Kuwait's Combined Group Contracting for the construction of the 22 km-long Fier bypass road, Albania’s infrastructure ministry said on Tuesday. Works on the bypass road are planned to be completed by next summer, the ministry said in a press release. In the coming days, ARRSH will also sign a contract with the winner of the contract for the construction of a 29 km-long bypass road around the city of Vlora bypass road, the ministry added. Combined Group Contracting won the tender for the construction of the Fier bypass road, while a joint venture comprising local company Gener 2 and Italy's Impresa Ing. E.Mantovani has been selected to build the Vlora bypass, infrastructure minister Damian Gjiknuri said last month. The winners of the two tenders have been approved by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), both financing the projects, Gjiknuri added. The EBRD said last year that Albania's government intends using the remaining proceeds of a loan in the amount of 48.8 million euro from the EBRD and the EIB to finance the construction of the Fier bypass road and of a loan in the amount of 48 million euro from the EBRD and the EIB (including a 15.1 million euro EU grant) to finance the construction of the Vlora bypass road. The bypass roads at Fier and Vlora are important for the economic development of Albania's southwestern region as they will help improve the regional integration, facilitate trade and economic growth, alongside supporting tourism development in southern Albania. The two bypasses are key sections of the national road network in Albania and will connect major roads built with financing from the EBRD and EIB, such as the Levan-Tepelene and Levan-Vlora roads.
