Albania is reportedly seeking a 600 million Saudi Riyal loan (€109.8 million) from the Gulf Kingdom in order to finance the construction of a new parliamentary complex in Tirana.
Besar Likmeta Tirana
07 JUN 2011 The Arab News daily reported on Monday that talks over the loan were held on Sunday between Saudi officials and former deputy of finance and MP Sherefedin Shehu.
“The Kingdom, in a gesture of solidarity and support for Albania, is willing to finance the parliament project,” Sheu told Arab News.
The new assembly will be built on the site of the former pyramid-shaped mausoleum of Albania’s Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha, which for the last two decades has served as a cultural centre.
Twelve international architectural firms took part in the tender for the building’s construction, which was won by the Swiss firm Coop Himmelblau, headed by famed architect Wolf D Prix.
Albania’s government had previously said that it planned to spend only up to €40 million on the new assembly.
Prix’s architectural firm is known for its bravura designs and complex forms – but also for repeated cost overruns in its projects.
This was the second competition held for a new parliamentary building in as many years. After the first project was discarded, the government spent nearly a million euro in August on renovating the current assembly.
Three months later, in November 2010, Prime Minister Sali Berisha announced that the government would tear down the Tirana pyramid and build a the new home for parliament there.
The proposal has provoked fierce debate, as the government has already spent €2 million on transforming the pyramid into a national theatre.Source: Balkaninsight