SPAK deepens investigation into DURANA, as SIGAL’s Avni Ponari promotes the project to Japanese investors despite lack of development
In early January, Albania’s Special Structure Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) was reported to have expanded its verification process to include the DURANA project of the Albanian Investment Corporation, as part of ongoing investigations linked to the AKSHI case and its key actors.
Sources indicate that the investigation is focusing on several companies registered within DURANA, which are suspected of having connections to individuals involved in the AKSHI scandal, including well-known figures from the IT sector and public procurement industry.
Promotion abroad amid investigation
While DURANA is under scrutiny by the Special Prosecution Office, the project has also been promoted internationally. Avni Ponari—Honorary Consul of Japan in Vlora and owner of SIGAL UNIQA—has presented the project to Japanese investors as a promising investment opportunity.
According to the official DURANA Tech Park platform, the project was showcased at a forum organized by the Albania–Japan Chamber of Commerce, where Ponari was among the organizers. However, questions have been raised about what exactly is being presented to investors, as the park is widely described as undeveloped land with no tangible infrastructure.
Reports suggest that the project has already been publicly associated with allegations of misuse, including its potential use by companies linked to the AKSHI scandal for tax evasion and avoidance.
Links to the AKSHI investigation
The expansion of SPAK’s investigation is directly tied to the AKSHI case, where Special Prosecutor Bledar Maksuti has reportedly documented a scheme involving the concentration of public tenders among a limited number of companies, facilitated through inflated costs and influence over procurement processes.
Investigations indicate that these companies simultaneously benefited from public funds while allegedly avoiding fiscal obligations—now potentially through the DURANA project.
In this context, DURANA is being examined as an extension of the same scheme, where financial gains may not have been limited to public tenders but also included tax exemptions, potentially causing double damage to the state budget.
SPAK is verifying whether DURANA has been used to favor certain entities and facilitate tax avoidance for the same actors involved in the AKSHI case, expanding the scope of the investigation into a broader financial network.
What is DURANA?
DURANA is a technology and science park established under Albania’s legal framework for tech parks and administered by the Albanian Investment Corporation. It has been designated as a free economic zone for IT development.
This status provides registered entities with extensive fiscal incentives, including reductions or exemptions from corporate tax, personal income tax, and VAT.
However, the mechanism was introduced at a time when tax privileges for IT companies were being phased out due to international pressure—raising suspicions that DURANA may have been used as an alternative scheme for tax avoidance.
Allegations by Arben Ahmetaj
Former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj has publicly denounced DURANA, describing it as a new channel for granting fiscal advantages to a select group of IT companies after the previous preferential tax scheme was dismantled.
According to Ahmetaj, companies that continued to win public tenders were also benefiting from tax exemptions by registering within DURANA.
His statements have raised serious questions about the true purpose of the project and whether the activities of registered entities comply with legal requirements related to research, development, and innovation.