Serbs and Albanians building together – First big joint investment

Belgrade's Hidrotehnika-Hidroenergetika and the Albanian Energy Corporation (KESH) are forming a consortium for the purpose of raising dams and hydro power plants throughout the world, Blic learns.

All the registration papers for the first Serbian-Albanian company have been prepared and it is expected to be registered by the end of the week. This business transaction is a result of the agreement between prime ministers Aleksandar Vucic and Edi Rama, and the first project to employ both Albanian and Serbian workers is the construction of a hydro power plant in Albania.

A Blic source from the Government claims that this is only the firs step towards deepening the cooperation with Tirana and that several such business moves might be made by the end of the year.

– Belgrade's Hidrotehnika-Hidroenergetika is a company that has tradition and considerable experience in raising dams and hydro power plants, which is what KESH needs. They will start building the hydro power plant in Albania and then expand their activities to Europe, Russia, Asia. No company from either Serbia or Albania is big enough to get a job within big projects on the world market, but they can do it together – explains the Blic source.

He adds that other companies from Serbia have shown interest as well.

– There are numerous businessmen who have shown interest in investing in Albania, especially in tourism, the IT sector and agriculture. The Chamber of Commerce of Serbia is involved as well.

The Blic findings have been indirectly confirmed by Marko Cadez, president of the CCIS.

– I don't want to discuss the date when KESH and Hidrotehnika-Hidroenergetika will legally regulate their cooperation. What's important is that good business relations have been established to the benefit of both states. Serbian businessmen are very interested in cooperating with Albanian ones and many good jobs will follow – Cadez says.