Speaking at the inauguration of the National Flight School, Rama said Albania now has a fully mission-ready helicopter fleet after overcoming years of maintenance problems and operational constraints.

“We are now fully prepared to face the annual challenge of the hot season, when the battle against wildfires is unavoidable,” he said.

Rama added that the government had approved the acquisition of additional U.S.-made Black Hawk helicopters, which will strengthen both military and civil emergency response capabilities.

He said the expansion would make Albania one of the region’s best-equipped countries in terms of helicopter capacity for defence and emergency operations.

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“Hundreds of firefighting vehicles, helicopters and planes fought the wildfires. There were launched almost 100 missions from the air, hundreds of interventions on the ground and this country, challenged like no other year by fires, did not break, on the contrary, it showed that the Civil Protection Mechanism from the most remote village to Tirana downtown or vice versa, could and knew how to make its best, although there is still much to do”, said Rama.

“Of course, there were also the online firefighting experts and the usual arsonists of our public and digital assembly, but Albania was not protected by them. Albania was protected by the sweat, courage and sacrifice of those 10 thousand or so people in the line of fire”, emphasized Rama.

This, he added, “is the simple truth and the only truth worth saying out loud, while from Spain to France, from Turkey to Portugal, Italy and Greece, the entire Mediterranean was on fire like never before this summer”.

Therefore, the head of government added, “When we hear voices cursing Albania for not having its own firefighting aircraft, we must keep in mind a very simple truth. Aircrafts are not magicians. They are powerful useful means, which we have not lacked thanks to the European Civil Protection Mechanism, of which we, Albania, are a part with equal rights, but they are by no means omnipotent”.

“22 latest generation aircrafts could not prevent the flames from burning and scorching Izmir area extensively, opening a painful wound on the land of friendly Turkey and causing tens of thousands of people to be evacuated”, Rama said.

“Just as the largest air force on the world could not avoid the tragic burning of a large settlement like Tirana, in Los Angeles”, Rama underlined.

Rama emphasized that, “Aircraft are undoubtedly a powerful weapon in battle. We too will soon have our own aircraft fleet, which will begin to be built beginning with two firefighting aircrafts, but the magic, if we can call it that, is the coordination and sacrifice of the people on the ground”.

Rama thanked the representatives of the EU and friendly countries, as he put it, “Thanks to the solidarity network and thanks to Albania’s integration into the European Civil Protection Mechanism, we have managed to avoid the worst. And Croatia, Greece, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden and, as always, Italy, deserve special thanks because they continuously sent aircraft to extinguish the fires in context of the Mechanism”. /gj.m/j.p/p.s./

Minister Peleshi expressed gratitude for the support of Albania’s strategic partner, the United States of America.

“This year marks the 15th anniversary of our membership in the NATO and we have started it with two Black Hawk helicopters added to our army. It’s just the beginning. We are under negotiations for two more in the medium term and by 2030 we hope that Albania will have a fleet of 6 Black Hawk helicopters. It is a donation from our US strategic partners, but also a contribution from the state budget. We are building two specific hangars for the Black Hawk helicopters that will be completed within this year, here at the Farka airbase”, underlined Minister Peleshi.

Together with the two Black Hawk helicopters, according to Minister Peleshi, Albania has been able to benefit from a complete package of support, including maintenance for a certain period, technical assistance and pilot training.

On his part, the US Chargé d’Affaires Wisner praised the preparation of Albanian pilots and maintenance teams.

The two Black Hawk helicopters are Albania’s first order for this model, supported by the US aid fund worth over 50 million USD.

The new helicopters help strengthen the capabilities of Albania’s air force and the ability to carry out medical evacuation, personnel recovery, search and rescue missions as well as supporting NATO logistical movements for operations and exercises./p.s./

The new fleet of 74 vehicles will be at the service of the penitentiary system thanks to the support of the Albanian Government and British partners.

At the presentation ceremony of this fleet, Minister of Justice Ulsi Manja said that the new fleet of prison police vehicles is symbolic evidence of the investments over the last years in the physical infrastructure and transportation of the penitentiary system.

Manja added that the salary of prison police officers has been equaled with the salaries of State Police officers, while next year there is expected a 10% increase./p.s./

The Agency for Agricultural and Rural Development said that 80 subjects have applied to measure 7: For the renovation of fishing vessels and modernization of the fleet.

If compared to last year, the number of applications has increased by about 30 subjects. Meanwhile, the highest number of applications came from the Durrës region, where fishermen applied for the general renewal of the marine fleet, as well as for the replacement of the ship’s engine.

The support intends to promote the further development of the sector by improving conditions and reducing costs for fishermen.

In this year’s National Scheme, support measures 7; provides a subsidy of 50% of the value of the purchase of the fishing vessel in financing value, no more than 13,500,000 ALL for fishing vessels equipped with a valid commercial fishing license and no more than 20 million ALL per subject.

In recent years, a number of fiscal benefits have been created for the fishing sector, such as the removal of excise duty on fuel, the removal of the carbon tax, zero VAT for nets, boats, electronic equipment, zero VAT for refrigerators, fishing boat engines. While the investments, combined with the growing demand of the foreign market, have brought a progressive increase in fish caught and exported.

The increase in exports in this segment came after the expansion of investments, thanks to the support of programs addressed by the government to finance the fish industry. Also, the improvement of the infrastructure in the fishing ports has played an important role, as well as the construction of new brands for fish trading, which has increased the value of this product in the markets.

Today, the export of fish has seen a multiple increase. If compared to 2013, exports have increased 4 times more. In 2022, there were exported over 9,219 tons of seafood.

There are more than 220 fishing vessels operating in our country. /gj.m/r.e/p.s./

The port with the largest number of licensed vessels is the port of Durrës with 37.90% of the total fleet.

The port of Vlora has 31.12% of the total fleet number, followed by the port of Saranda with 14.76%.

Fishing ports with the lowest percentages of licensed groups for fishing are those of Lushnja-Fier with 2.26% and Himara with 1.73%.

Government policies are addressing particular support for funding investments in modernizing the fishing fleet in order to increase fishing and export. /j.p/p.s./

Air Albania recently announced it will dry-lease two A320-200s directly from GA Telesis, its first aircraft not sourced via parent company Turkish Airlines.

The Albanian flag carrier plans to finalise the contract on the two 180-seater jets later this summer season.

According to CH-Aviation, the leaser owns ten A320-200s, five of which are placed with United Airlines (UA, Chicago O’Hare), and five more are in storage.

The two new A320s will support Air Albania’s planned network growth. In early April, the carrier launched scheduled flights from the newly opened Kukës airport in the north of the country to Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg, CH and Zurich.

In July, it will launch services from Tirana to Antalya and Bodrum Milas.

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Minister Krifca highlighted the government support to this sector which has assumed a notable impetus since 2013 and that is reflected even in the report of the European Commission of the current year.

Speaking about budget 2022, Krifca said that through the Programme “Support for Fishing” there will be made available 702 million lekë.

Further on, the minister said that there will be built anchoring capacity in Durrës port as well as in Shëngjin and there will be put at the disposal the national scheme of support to continue with renovation of the fishing fleet.

The minister also spoke about the country’s potential to anchovy export. She said negotiations are underway with the EU to increase quota of processed anchovy.

There are 28 processing factories authorized for export to the EU. According to Krifca, there is foreseen a direct impact with additional employment of 4 thousand persons in the industry.

Likewise, the minister added that aquaculture has a great potential. She said that the total production from sweet waters, salty waters and sea waters has grown from 3450 tons in 2012 into 8799 tons in 2020”./j.p/p.s./

The first 20 “Go Green” buses arrived today in “Mother Teresa” square and within August this year they will be put into operation, while the investment will include 22 more vehicles.

The green ring line in Tirana, environmentally friendly, aims at a wide coverage and integration with the existing transport network, giving citizens the opportunity to travel long distances with a transport line.

The Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj said that, this is an important day not only for those who use public transport, but also for all citizens of Tirana.

“Just like me, many citizens are eagerly waiting to have a green transport, which does not pollute the environment. Today we are taking an unprecedented step and we are probably the first country in the region with a green fleet. We have delivered on our promise and I am glad we made it a reality. Tirana is undergoing the process of modernization of public transport, which started since when Edi Rama was at the helm of the municipality, suspended for 4 years, and today, thanks to a titanic work it has become a reality,” mayor Veliaj said.   //a.i./