"The Queen of Europe's Rivers", 7 municipalities discharge wastewater into the Vjosa River

Seven municipalities along the Vjosa continue to discharge polluted water into the river, while construction of the promised plants has not yet begun.

In July 2023, the Minister of Tourism and Environment, Mirela Kumbaro, enthusiastically announced the launch of an important environmental investment for the Vjosa River. 

"There are seven municipalities between the Gjirokastra and Vlora districts that will be equipped with plants because we cannot talk about the Vjosa, the queen of Europe's rivers, while to this day all the polluted waters continue to flow into the Vjosa," Kumbaro promised at the time.

Two years after this commitment, Faktoje verified the progress of the much-discussed project. Verifications show that the Albanian government is still far from fully fulfilling this commitment. The Vjosa, baptized as the only wild river in Europe, now also a National Park, continues to be polluted by the sewage of the seven municipalities along it. The construction of the plants has not started, as the 80 million dollar project from the World Bank is in the first steps of implementation.

The World Bank confirmed to Fact
that the $80 million loan only became effective on March 31, 2025. So, more than 20 months after Minister Kumbaro's statement.

"The project became effective at the moment all necessary conditions for its effectiveness were met," the World Bank explained in an official response.

According to her, the terms of reference for the activities envisaged by the project are currently being prepared. Implementation on the ground has not yet begun, while the full completion of this investment is expected in March 2030.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Tourism, after a complaint process with the Commissioner for the Right to Information (after refusing to provide information as required by law), briefly shared the same closing date.

"According to the loan agreement with the World Bank, the project's completion date is March 2030," the ministry announced, among other things.

This means that the realization of the promise to build 7 wastewater treatment plants is still in the preliminary phase and the protection of the Vjosa River from polluted waters will require at least another 5 years. 

What is happening today with the municipalities along the Vjosa River?
Factoje requested official information from the municipalities mentioned in the project. Some of them confirmed the lack of concrete investments, while four of them refused to provide information.

Libohova
There is no wastewater treatment plant in the territory of this municipality. The municipality claims to Faktoje.al that the sewage networks are partial and old. In many rural areas, wastewater is managed with septic tanks. 

Memaliaj
This municipality has a sewage network, but 100% of the wastewater flows into the Vjosa River, due to the lack of a plant. The municipality says that it does not have the financial capacity to afford such an investment on its own and is currently in negotiations with foreign organizations to apply for environmental projects. So far, no concrete action has been taken.

Përmet
Përmet is among the few municipalities that have confirmed their official involvement in the project financed by the World Bank, through the 'Care for Blue Sea' initiative. According to the municipality, the construction of the plant is part of a strategy to reduce pollution along the Vjosa Valley. However, here too the project is still in the study phase, and no field work has yet begun.

Meanwhile, the municipalities of Gjirokastër, Tepelena, Këlcyrë and Selenica have not responded by the time of publication of this article.

Conclusion
The promise of an environmental “revolution” with the construction of 7 plants along the Vjosa is still far from being implemented. The project, although important and financed by an international institution such as the World Bank, is still in its early stages. Meanwhile, the Vjosa continues to be polluted every day by the wastewater of the municipalities that were supposed to protect it. Based on these data, we categorize the promise of Minister Mirela Kumbaro for the construction of 7 wastewater treatment plants in the municipalities that the Vjosa flows through as partially kept. Faktoje.al