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EBRD promotes reform in Albania’s telecom sector
€100 million investment to modernise telecoms services across the country
The EBRD is extending a €75 million loan to support the reform and modernisation of Albtelecom Sh. A., the main Albanian telecommunications operator, which was privatised in 2007 and is now majority owned by a Turkish consortium. In parallel to the EBRD facility, an additional €25 million will be provided by the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB).
The EBRD loan will allow Albtelecom to restructure its operations, making it a more efficient and a customer-oriented company. Following the investment, Albtelecom will be able to offer new and better-quality services to its customers in Albania. The capital investment programme includes investments to upgrade and expand the existing fixed-line network infrastructure, building a new mobile GSM network and developing new broadband and data services.
The EBRD financing package consists of an A loan portion of €30 million for the EBRD’s own account and a B loan portion of €45 million which will be provided by commercial banks.
Established in 1912 as a state-owned telecom and postal services company in Albania, Albtelecom was privatized in 2007, when the government sold the 76 percent stake to the consortium of Calik Enerji and Turk Telecom. Albtelecom is currently the dominant fixed-line operator in the country, with a network of around 275,000 lines and about 256,000 subscribers, covering primarily urban areas.
EBRD First Vice-President Varel Freeman said this loan underscores the Bank’s commitment to supporting the full liberalisation and modernisation of the telecom sector, whose reform is of crucial importance for the country’s full transition to a market economy. By supporting investments in the network, development of new services and the launch of a third mobile operator, the Bank is encouraging competition on the market and tariff restructuring, which will be of direct benefit to the Albanian people, he added.
In addition to increasing dynamism in the sector, the project will demonstrate to other companies in Albania the benefits of restructuring their companies in order to achieve greater efficiency, raise the standard of services and improve the level of employee competence which will have a positive effect on the entire economy.
BSTDB Vice-President Andrey Kondakov said the development of a modern telecommunications sector is a priority for BSTDB in all its member countries. The Bank’s cooperation with the EBRD on this operation in Albania is a successful example of efficient co-financing between the two international financial institutions and commercial banks. Being a regional development bank, BSTDB finds it especially important to support this initiative of Turkish investors in Albania which is promoting regional cooperation, Mr Kondakov added.
The EBRD is the largest institutional investor in Albania, having invested more than €380 million in a number of important sectors, including national infrastructure, the financial sector and the private corporate sector.
Calik Enerji is a fully-owned subsidiary of Calik Group, a Turkish conglomerate operating mainly in the textile, construction, energy, media and financial services in Turkey and in neighbouring countries. Turk Telecom is the incumbent Turkish telecoms operator, majority-owned by Saudi Oger Telecom.
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