“My method has been exported outside Italy”. This is what Manlio
Cerroni, uncle of Francesco Becchetti, owner of the Kalivaci hydropower
plant, answered to judges.
“He was arrested on January 9th, accused of criminal activity for trafficking waste materials and for fraud. But he must have strong ties in Albania, since no one has revoked his concession license and has not been asked for compensation”, writes the Italian newspaper, Il Messagero.
With the article “Cerroni System in Albania, delays and protection”, Il Messaggero refers to his businesses in Albania.
“In 1997, the Albanian government was interested in having a hydropower plant that by then was still a construction site. The company tasked with this was BEG, which inclided all the Cerroni family. Francesco Becchetti is newphew of Cerroni, but he appears to be on his own, together with his daughters Donatella and Monika”.
“In 1997, the Albanian government had made some concessions for inviting foreign investors in the energy sector. One of the most important projects was that of Kalivaci, in Southern Albania. A 100 MW power plant that could make Albania export energy to Italy and Greece.
“In 2000, the Albanian government gave 10 months to the company to start the construction, and it also defined some tax privileges: no VAT, no customs tax and no tax on profit for the first two years. For the next 28 years, the tax would be 15%. The HPP should have been over in 2002.”
“Il Messagero” writes about the connection between “Bacchetti Energy Group” and the Enelpower” Company, part of Enel, which entered with an inveestment of 160 million USD in February 2000. BEG remained the holder of the concession. Their alliance was broken in December, and the group of Cerroni’s nephew sued Enelpower in the Rome Court, asking 120 million EUR of damage. This was a process that Cerroni’s society never won, but it still open in the Italian and Albanian courts, even at the Court of Appeal of Arbitrage in Paris.
In 2001, when the construction works should have begun, BEG had no partner and the Albanian government gave them two other years for starting the construction. While the deadline was almost expired, Baccetti Energy Group financed the first phase of the work. In 2007, Deutsche Bank appears on the scene, but the agreement with the German bank also ended up in Court, according to “Il Messagero”.
The National Agency of Natural Resources in Albania writes to the Ministry: “Based on the inspections made on March 13th, 2012, the works are still in the initial phase, same as in April 2011. The terrain that was dug out for the dam has been damaged by waters. The cementing of the dam walls has not started yet. There are masses of land in the deviation gallery and they are thinking about rebuilding the bridge which was damaged by the river. The HPP should have been constructed and started operating by now. The copy of the project has not been signed by the planners. The company has not handed over the act for the start of construction, which should have been made 30 days from the start.
Il Messagero quotes the AKBN director, Petrit Gjoni, who explains why the Albanian government has not intervened yet.
“The pace of work is very slow, but the Albanian state doesn’t aim to penalize Beccheti, since they give privileges to foreign investments in Albania”, Il Messagero writes.
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