The Special Court Against Corruption and Organized Crime in Tirana suspended Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Belinda Balluku and prohibited her from leaving Albania. She is part of a group of officials that special prosecutors are investigating for alleged tampering with tenders for the Llogara tunnel and Tirana Outer Ring Road.
Albania will for now remain without a deputy prime minister and without a functional Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, Prime Minister Edi Rama said. He publicly opposed the decision by the Special Court Against Corruption and Organized Crime to suspend his second in command Belinda Balluku from the executive offices.
She was elected minister in 2019, while in 2022 she also became deputy prime minister. The measure doesn’t affect Balluku’s status as member of Parliament of Albania.
The Special Structure against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) has launched a preliminary investigation of her role in an alleged “violation of equality” in public tenders. Balluku’s case involves the contracts from 2021 for the Llogara tunnel near Vlora and lot 4 of the Tirana Outer Ring Road. They were worth EUR 190 million and EUR 20 million, respectively, according to domestic media.
The investigation has reportedly been extended to the entire Tirana Outer Ring Road
In the meantime, the special prosecutors and investigators have reportedly extended the probe to the entire Tirana Outer Ring Road, worth EUR 450 million. It is 28.7 kilometers long.
Belinda Balluku is part of a group of officials including state-owned power utility KESH’s Chief Executive Officer Erald Elezi, who was charged earlier.
Prime Minister Edi Rama threatened to take the case to the Constitutional Court. Balluku denied the allegations.
Several senior officials from the ruling Socialist Party have been removed from office over the past years amid corruption charges. They include former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj and Mayor of Tirana Erion Veliaj.