Government villas will be turned into luxury hotels

The presentation of projects for the government villas of Vlora and Velipoja, which are intended to be turned into international brand hotels in collaboration with the private sector, began this Wednesday.

Prime Minister Edi Rama, before starting the presentation of the projects, said that this practice aims to give another dimension to the cooperation that the state has with the private sector, from which it is expected that the revenues generated will be put at the service of public works.

This is a model that, according to the head of government, has also been followed by France and Italy, where the sister agencies of the Albanian Investment Corporation generate high levels of income.

"The experience of two residencies that have already been transformed, one into a guest house of the Albanian state for personalities from various fields and the other into a center for young artists from all over the world in collaboration with the French foundation "Art explora", have shown us that this is the way to turn these assets into centers of public interest and to revitalize them by introducing the state as a partner and giving entrepreneurship the opportunity to transform them into a source of income, and this is the case of the two projects that we have in the competition today.

One for the villa of the Albanian leader and dictator in Vlora and the other for another government residence in Velipojë. It is a new path that we are treading but where we practically see the great potential that the use of state assets has to involve the public through the state as an interested party, practically changing the formulas of interaction with the private sector that until yesterday were very basic.

"They have deprived the state of many capacities to generate income. We are seeing models in Europe where institutions like the sister Investment Corporation in France or Italy own assets and receive impressive income that is made available to the public interest to invest in public infrastructure and to involve state capacities in the growth of the economy but also in benefiting from this growth," said Rama.

Minister of Tourism and Environment Mirela Kumbaro underlined that the revitalization and activation of assets from the dictatorship period is a way to show the current generation and those who will come about the past, but also a calling card for tourists who have been increasing year after year and who in the first four months of this year alone are 7 percent more than the same period a year ago.

In April, the Corporation announced that several companies had expressed interest in being part of the competition for the revitalization of government villas. In the first phase, the companies that were interested in Velipoja were:

Meanwhile, for the contract "For the reconceptualization of government residences into elite accommodation structures, Vila Vlorë" part of the "Hospitality" sub-project, five companies have expressed interest, of which four have qualified for the second phase:

1. "Soleil and Sea" Ltd.

2. Bashkimi i Subjekteve Shoqëria "2A Group shpk", "Practica Arquitectura y Urbanismo SLP", "Barclay Crousse", "Tharm Architects", Brand Company "Swiss Diamond Group SA"

3. "Xhenis shpk" Company

Meanwhile, for the contract "For the reconceptualization of government residences into elite accommodation structures, Vila Vlorë" part of the "Hospitality" sub-project, five companies have expressed interest, of which four have qualified for the second phase:

1. "Blu Horizont 2005" LLC

2. "Soleil and Sea" Ltd.

3. Bashkimi i Subjekteve Shoqëria "2A Group shpk", "Practica Arquitectura y Urbanismo SLP", "Barclay Crousse", "Tharm Architects", Brand Company "Swiss Diamond Group SA"

4. Merger of the Entities "Edil-AI-IT Company & Zdrava Company". / Monitor