The Milot-Balldren road is turning into another case in which public bills change dramatically from one stage to the next. For just 17 kilometers of road, the cost of the project has gone from €161.5 million to €364.7 million, while the duration of the contract has been extended from 13 to 35 years.
From the initial projection to the new bill
The first contract envisaged on the basis of the feasibility study valued the project at €161.5 million for 13 years. Later, after changes in the financing method and after the winning company withdrew in 2018, in the second call the cost rose to about €365 million for 35 years.
The tender was canceled, then reopened
At the beginning of 2025, the procedure was canceled with the official argument that none of the bids met the requirements of the invitation. After the failure of the tender, the procedure continued for a third time with three bids in competition.
In July 2026, the temporary grouping of companies “Salillari, Alb, Infrakonsult and Erald G” was declared the winner, with a difference of more than €203 million compared with the first projected contract.
Questions over the method of calculation
The official version has claimed that the change in the financing method brought the need to revise the feasibility study. But the sharp increase in cost raises essential questions: on what vehicle flow the financial model was built, what changed in the assessment, and who drew up the criteria that led to this new bill.
Suspicions are heightened by the fact that a considerable part of the total value is split between construction and maintenance. The project envisages €182.5 million for the construction and rehabilitation of the road, while €168.4 million is set aside solely for routine maintenance and operation.
Criticism over lack of transparency
Geodetic engineer Romeo Nazarko has described the scheme as problematic, raising suspicions of fictitious tenders and non-transparent preparation of the documentation, where according to him the sums can be inflated several times before they are formalized in the cost estimate.
The Milot-Balldren case once again highlights a model in which the cost of maintenance approaches the cost of the construction itself, while the public remains without a clear and verifiable explanation for the increase in the bill.
The figures made public show a profound change between the 2018 project and the later variant: from €161.5 million to €364,732,924 and from 13 years to 35 years.
In a project with this weight for the budget and public money, transparency over the calculations, the criteria and those responsible remains the central issue.