The National Urban Transport Association and the Urban and Interurban Transport Association notified the government, the Municipality of Tirana and the ministries responsible for infrastructure and the economy of the planned reduction in a letter.

“This is not a choice by operators, nor a lack of willingness to provide normal public transport services, but a direct consequence of their inability to cover the costs of operating their full fleets, particularly fuel costs,” the associations said.

Dashnor Memaj, chairman of the Public Transport Association, confirmed the measure to Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA).

The associations said high fuel prices and other operating costs had severely affected operators’ liquidity and that previous requests for fuel-cost compensation and institutional support had not received concrete responses.

They warned that the reduction would lead to less frequent services, longer intervals between buses and overcrowding, affecting passengers who rely on public transport daily.

The associations called on authorities to urgently implement fuel-cost compensation and address their other concerns, saying operators could no longer afford to run their full fleets under current conditions.

The government had earlier approved a 50 lek per litre reimbursement for diesel used by urban, intercity and suburban public transport companies. The measure covers fuel consumption in March, April and May 2026, capped at the amount consumed during the same period in 2025, according to a Council of Ministers decision.

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Governor Gent Sejko noted that the Bank of Albania—partnering with the Bank of Italy and the European Central Bank—is in the final implementation phase to modernize transfers and support the economy.

According to him, TIPS Clone is a fast payment system that cuts transfer time and costs. Using it widely could save the financial system 35 billion lekë and the economy 38 billion lekë yearly. Even at half use, lower fees will save families 500 million lekë and businesses 1 billion lekë each year.

Sejko added that, additionally, the new system will boost financial inclusion, cut down on informality, and speed up Albania’s integration with the European payment network following its move into SEPA.

The TIPS Clone—a local version of the European TIPS (TARGET Instant Payment Settlement) platform—allows banks to process instant payments around the clock, every day of the year.

Albania’s new TIPS Clone system connects local banks to Europe’s fast-payment network. This backend upgrade lowers costs, speeds up transactions and reduces cash use.

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According to INSTAT, the annual change of the Construction Cost Index in the first quarter 2022 is 5.0%, while last year it was 0.6%.

If compared to the same quarter of last year, the largest increase in prices is observed in the group “Energy costs” by 11.7%, followed by the groups “Material costs” by 6.0%, “Machinery costs” by 3 , 8%, “Other costs” by 3.5%, “Wage expenses” by 2.5% and “Transportation expenses” by 2.1%.

Within the group “Material costs”, the indices of the subgroup “Hydro-sanitary materials and ventilation” marked the highest increase by 6.8%, followed by the group “Construction materials” by 6.5% and “Electrical materials and communication” by 3.5%.

The prices of raw materials significantly increased because of the high demand after the pandemic and the situation created by the war in Ukraine. These effects are transferred to production costs and final prices, in construction. /j.p/p.s./

The return flight will take place that day, after an hour and a half of preparation time to return to Zurich.

In the light of the first flight from Zurich to Kukës, a welcome ceremony and a press conference will take place on the runway.

Kukës International Airport ‘Zayed-Flatrat e Veriut’ has a runway of 2.2 kilometers, the observation deck, while the runway is designed to accommodate 3 aircraft simultaneously, while within an hour, 4 aircraft can depart from the airport.

The terminal occupies a space of 3500 m2, has 2 entrance gates and inside it there is a museum area commemorating the Kosovo war, which was also the starting point of this airport, as a gift from the United Arab Emirates in aid of war refugees, according to official announcement.

According to the official website https://www.illyrianeagle.ch/, departure from Kukes costs 49-69 Swiss francs (45-63 euros), for the dates 9-21 July, while the return flight  99 to 199 francs (91-183 euro). //a.i/