'In the Llogora tunnel, the fee is 250 lek with VAT per vehicle' - Balluku: Qukës – Qafa e Plloçës road, accessible from tomorrow
Today in Tirana, the "Tourist Albania 2030" event took place, a national platform for discussing and setting new milestones in the sustainable development of Albanian tourism, with the aim of turning the country into a regional tourism champion by 2030.
Present at the event, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku, presented a series of achievements and infrastructure projects, which, according to her, have been the main engine of tourism development in the country.
Balluku said that Bulqiza is moving towards archaeological tourism.
"Bulqiza is on the verge of a tourist development, as a monumental tomb from the 3rd century BC was recently discovered, which will turn this destination into a definition of archaeological tourism," said Balluku.
The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that modern infrastructure has been a key factor in the increase in visitors to various areas of the country.
"The highest figure of this season comes from the Murriz tunnel, on August 17th it was 19,500 vehicles towards Dibra. This is an indisputable fact about how infrastructure manages to promote tourism even in areas where it was not even thought of before. Albania is a natural beauty, but the development of infrastructure has also given it development. There are nearly 1 million vehicles in three months that have passed through the Llogora tunnel, one of the key points that accesses the southern area of the country," she said.
Balluku announced that, "through a broad, in-depth analysis of operational costs, the price of a passage for vehicles in the Llogora tunnel is 250 lek with VAT, not ten euros, not five euros, not fifty euros, because we have heard various figures. Larger categories such as buses and trailers will have special prices, according to the feasibility study."
Balluku stated that, "we are also completing projects that have been in the hands of builders for a long time, such as the one in Qukë - Qafë-Plloçë, but which will become accessible to vehicles tomorrow."
"Also, a 3-kilometer bypass from Bradashesh to Lekaj will ease traffic on the Tirana-Elbasan axis next year. For the Milot-Balldren road, the winner of the concession contract will be announced on October 3," said Balluku.
She said that Albania today is buzzing like a construction site. Projects are being completed ahead of schedule and directly impact the development of tourism.
Balluku also spoke about developments in the aviation sector, calling it "another important pillar of tourism."
"On May 25, 2023, during an international football match, Rinas Airport successfully handled 23 thousand passengers in one day. Meanwhile, on August 11, 2025, Rinas recorded a new record, with 50 thousand seated visitors in one day," she said.
In conclusion, Balluku described tourism as one of the sectors with the greatest potential for the Albanian economy, while emphasizing that inter-institutional cooperation, sustainable development and the inclusion of local communities will be the pillars of the "Tourist Albania 2030" strategy.
Speech by Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Belinda Balluku, Tourist Albania 2030
Dear Prime Minister,
Dear Mirela,
Dear colleagues,
Of course, Albania is a fantastic place to visit and undoubtedly all the tourists who have been able to enjoy the Albanian beaches and mountains this year are the best witnesses. However, I will start with localism, borrowing a little from Mirela and considering that there was a reaction from the mayors here in the hall, since Mirela always talks about Gjirokastra, while I will talk about Bulqiza. I will talk about Bulqiza, which is known as a mining area or mining area, is already on the verge of a tourist explosion, since just a few days ago a monumental tomb from the third century, perhaps even the fourth, was discovered, which will turn this destination into an archaeological tourist destination. And who would have thought?! But I started from Bulqiza, not because I have Dibra in my heart, because the Mirela district of Fier will also have Darëzeza, which already has a master plan and we are moving quickly to develop it, but because when I asked the statistics office to make this speech, I had hopes that the Llogara tunnel would be that part of the infrastructure that would have been the crown jewel of the Albanian infrastructure and I was waiting for those figures, because everyone was telling me that you should open the second tube next season because traffic has started to be very slow on weekends. But what happened, instead of the Llogara tunnel coming to me, the highest figure of this season comes from the Murriz tunnel. On August 17, the number of vehicles that passed through the Murriz tunnel towards the Dibra region was 19,050 vehicles, compared to the peak day in the Llogora tunnel, which was August 10 with 17,684 vehicles. This is an indisputable fact of how infrastructure manages to promote tourism even in areas where no one would have thought of it before.
Albania is prosperous. God has blessed it with two seas, with extraordinary mountains, with people who have mastered the art of cooking. So, they definitely want the columns where all of these things I mentioned are supported and infrastructure is undoubtedly one of them. I am also giving some other figures related to the number of vehicles that have passed this year from June 1 to August 31 through the Llogara tunnel. 911 thousand 952 vehicles, in short 1 million vehicles in just 3 months, in this important infrastructure hub. The Llogara tunnel is now equipped with a complete monitoring center, which also has a fire department, one of the most modern in the entire Balkans. This center operates 24/24 and I find the opportunity here to use another expression of Mirela. Muhabatet e behar. I liked it a lot. And considering the 'talk of the town' and the prices we have heard about the tunnel passage, I would like to officially say today that through a broad and very deep analysis of operational costs, the amortization of the tunnel infrastructure and everything else that such feasibility studies include, the price of a tunnel passage for cars is 250 lek including VAT. Not 10 euros, not 5 euros, not 50 euros, because we have heard very different figures. It must be said that of course the largest categories, such as buses, trailers and everything else will have special prices, according to this feasibility study.
In the meantime, it must be said that one of the most important instruments that the Albanian infrastructure already has is the National Traffic Monitoring Center, which is more and more necessary every day, not only for the new infrastructure that we are building, not only for the number of vehicles that are registered in the Albanian registers that increases every day, but also because of all the foreign visitors and moreover all the visitors who come and rent vehicles in the Republic of Albania and this is every year and expanding. Of course, they do not know our roads. Of course, every country has its own way of managing traffic and today the NTC has become an indispensable instrument. We have completed the recruitment phase, everything is ready. If you have been attentive, the main highways of the country now have several pillars that will soon be equipped with high-resolution cameras and the distance from one pillar to the other is 1.5 kilometers so as not to leave even a single area uncovered. It should also be said that projects are completed on time, but we are also completing projects that have been in the hands of builders for a long time, or even at the tables of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, such as the Qukës-Qafë Plloça project, which is a project with many problems, with many complexities, but thanks to the good work and organization that has been done by all structures, tomorrow morning at 11:00, Qukës-Qafë Plloça will become totally accessible to vehicles, completely completed and with signage already in place.
However, Albania is buzzing like a construction site, we are working everywhere, all construction sites are already on schedule. All construction sites are delivered ahead of schedule and I would say that during the next year, a number of them will be delivered such as Berat-Ballaban or even the segments of Tirana-Durrës or even the segments of Corridor VIII, especially those in the direction of Lekaj that do not have geological complexity. But during this year we have also been very careful to see where the main traffic problems are in the Republic of Albania and we have identified as one with the highest complexity, the section of the motorway exit from Tirana in the direction of Elbasan, where there is now no traffic only on Friday evening or Saturday morning, but there is throughout the week. For this reason, the Albanian Road Authority has completed a thorough study and design of that area and we will urgently start the construction of a final bypass, which is 3 kilometers long with an interconnection node with the segment from Bradashesh to Lekaj, thus creating the possibility that next year during the season we will not have traffic in that area. The same is true for Milot-Balldreni, which is a procedure that is being repeated and on October 3 we will have the winner of that concession area, taking into account all the success that the highway from Thumana and to Kashar has had with a very high use.
Of course, aviation remains one of the main elements of supporting tourism in our country and the advancement that has taken place at Tirana airport is expressed through numbers. On May 25, 2023, at an international match taking place in Tirana, I remember that we were all alarmed because about 23 thousand passengers would land at Rinas airport that day. And we all had to coordinate, with Civil Aviation, with Albcontrol, the airport itself, because it was one of the tests that we had not even thought we would pass and we passed it successfully. But do you know how busy the peak day of Tirana International Airport was this year. On August 11, 53 thousand 76 passengers landed at Tirana airport. More than double that day, when we were all engaged, while it was a normal day like all the others. To date, in the first eight months, Tirana Airport has had 7.83 million passengers arriving from 47,462 flights, and compared to August last year, we have had an increase in the number of passengers by 9%.
But of course, 'the talk of the town' does not leave aviation out either. The talk of the town touches on everything. I would like to share, I would just stop for a moment at Vlora Airport, an airport that has become a topic of conversation and celebration on portals, but we forget that we are talking about the airport of Albanians, the largest airport in the country that fortunately cannot be hidden with a mud tire, because a 3.2 kilometer runway built and tested there cannot be hidden. No 20 thousand square meter terminal or control tower can be hidden. Vlora Airport is and will be the pride of Albanians and for information, only Wizz Air without taking other companies here, but only Wizz Air is in the final phase of negotiations to land 12 new destinations at Vlora Airport during 2026, which equates to 586 thousand passengers for 2026 alone, from March 2026 for 9 months and you should keep in mind that the feasibility study by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Infrastructure for the first year of operations at Vlora Airport predicts only 330 thousand passengers. Meanwhile, only a company like Wizz Air will have 586 thousand.
I could talk for a long time, but I would not want you to be exposed to this beautiful September sun here in Tirana and I would just stop for a moment on energy. Energy from the most problematic sector of services in the Republic of Albania has turned into the most regular sector, the most problem-free sector and undoubtedly the most financially strong sector. When facing a drought year, like the one in 2019, called the extreme drought year 2025, we have not had any bottlenecks and no problems in providing electricity services throughout our country, maintaining even those areas, which are called red alert areas, such as Himara, Golemi or other areas, where the number of visitors exceeds the number of current residents of the area by tens of times and on the other hand we have continued investments and OSHEE today declares that in the first eight months it has managed to reduce technical losses below the 17% declared at the beginning of the year.
Yesterday, together with the Prime Minister, we made a presentation of the new project we have for Water Supply and Sewerage, following the same model as the energy one to close another component of services in our country, according to the parameters of the European Union and as the Albanian citizen, but also foreign visitors, deserve.
Thank you very much!
E-Albania reaches over 31 million transactions in August/ Personal and family documents, the most requested
In August 2025, the e-Albania government platform has set record figures in the use of electronic services, increasingly becoming the main link of......
"Tourism, quality will be the priority" - Rama: Ksamil and Dhërmiu, public beaches. No more music in beach bars
The tourism sector will be at new milestones for Albania Tourism 2030. Prime Minister Edi Rama said that the priority will not be the quantity, but the......
Criticisms about the draft of the new Criminal Code - Manja: Comments will be reflected. Rakipi: Here are the bases of construction and measures
The Minister of Justice, Ulsi Manja, has stated that all comments and analyses on the new Criminal Code have been noted and will be taken into account until......
Electronic payments record in 2025 - BoA: Albanians are using more online "channels" to pay bills
Payment of electricity, water, telephone bills, police fines, credit card payments, taxes, and other purchases are increasingly being made online or......
"Nickel in peaches originating from Albania" - Croatia blocks and destroys over 5500 kg of product!
The National Food Authority announces that on 22.08.2025, Albania has been notified by the RASFF System, in the category Notification for border rejection......
Business trade with the EU is made easier - New transit system. Reduced waiting time at the border, more security
Albanian businesses will have more ease in trading with European Union countries, benefiting from reduced waiting times and bureaucracy. Within the......
Businesses will manage their own waste - They will finance collection and recycling. "Salty" fines if they are not met
Every manufacturing entity that develops, produces, processes, treats, sells or imports products that generate waste after use will have obligations to......
Zero commission for electronic payments up to 40 thousand lekë - BoA approves new regulations for AIPS and AECH payment systems
Electronic payments up to 40,000 lek will be commission-free for citizens. The Bank of Albania has just approved new regulations for the AIPS, AIPS EURO and......
