Entries Tagged 'Albania News' ↓

Well there is according to Bankers Petroleum Ltd, a Canadian oil company who recently announced they had acquired the exclusive right to evaluate and redevelop the Kuçova heavy oil field in Albania.

Bankers Petroleum Ltd is pleased to announce that it has elected to exercise its option to acquire the remaining 50% interest in the Kuçova oil field, through the acquisition of the remaining issued and outstanding securities of Sherwood International Petroleum Ltd. The final closing was completed for a payment of $1.5 million.

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Back in April we reported that despite an invitation there was quite a way to go before Albania could join NATO. Yesterday Albania took one significant step closer to that goal when the ambassadors for the 24 member states signed accession protocols for both Albania and Croatia to join NATO.

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Colliers International were the first of the ‘big boys’ in the commercial and retail property field to establish a permanent bridgehead in the Albanian capital when they officially launched their office on the 22nd May this year.

But this was not a sudden assault on the commercial and retail markets in Albania ‘Iwo Jima’ style as Colliers have actually been operating in Albania on selected assignments since 2006.

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NATO formerly extended an invitation to Albania earlier this month to join the military club. However they are not quite there just yet and there is a whole load of work still to do before Albania is accepted as a fully paid up member.

Clearly joining NATO is a priority for the Albanian Government as it is a pre-requisite to becoming a fully fledged member of that other club the ‘European Union’. Membership of the EU promises to inject serious funds into the Albanian economy to help with its development and to bridge the gap caused by years of decay under the previous communist rulers.

Just before the decision was made at the Bucharest Summit earlier this month, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said:
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Unfortunately not all news about Albania is good news and events over the weekend have clearly demonstrated this.

On Saturday 15th March a munitions depot 10km from Tirana exploded shooting a huge ball of fire 50 metres into the air. The force of the blast smashed windows at Mother Teresa International Airport and totally destroyed nearby houses. The tragic news is that several people have been killed and hundreds more injured with serious burns and cuts from flying shrapnel.

The following Television news footage showed the extent of the devastation with houses having been destroyed and trees decimated by the impact of the blast:

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Kosovo where 90% of the population is ethnic Albanian declared its independence from Serbia on Sunday 17th February 2008. The declaration had been widely expected and represents the final dissolution of the former Republic of Yugoslavia.

Prime Minister Hashim Thaci told the parliament “We have waited for this day for a very long time,” before he read the text of the declaration and paid tribute to those who had died on the road to independence.

Tens of thousands of people waving the Albanian flag had thronged the streets of Kosovo’s capital, Pristina, since the morning in anticipation of the declaration being accepted by the Kosovan parliament. On receiving the news the city centre erupted in celebration with fireworks, firecrackers and gunfire. Continue reading →

TIA the company that runs Tirana International airport has recently announced that 2007 was a record year for the airport as the volume of passengers, cargo and aircraft traffic had all increased on previous years:

• During 2007 some 1.1 million passengers had passed through the airport representing an increase of 22% compared with 2006 and which also set a new record for air passenger transport in Albania.
• Close to 3,500 tonnes of cargo was handled which represents a 65% increase on 2006.
• The overall number of aircraft traffic movements (ATMs) had also increased by 15% on 2006. Continue reading →

With growing support from other member nations it is widely expected that Albania, Macedonia and Croatia will receive invitations to join NATO at the forthcoming April summit in Bucharest.

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