Construction of Two Hydropower Plants Ordered to Halt in Albania, 3 November 2021

The municipal enforcement office in Tropoja in northern Albania on Wednesday ordered government agencies and private companies to stop work on two hydropower plants on the Valbona River or face fines and criminal prosecution.

The decision comes five years after a group of local residents and an NGO called Toka (Land) filed a lawsuit to the court complaining that the construction of hydropower plants could damage the environment, having a negative impact on their lives and on tourism in the Valbona national park...

On October 27, the General Directorate of Bailiffs ordered a local bailiff, Eduard Mrishaj, to stop the work. However, the work did not stop...

In 2007, a permit was approved for the construction of the Dragobia hydropower plant in Valbona. The company Gener 2 signed the concession contract with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy. But the firm was accused of falsifying signatures, using names of who had died...

[refers to Gener 2 and Dragobia Energy]