When the Democratic Party government signed the agreement with the Transadriatic gas pipeline, a clause was included in the contract according to which Albania would automatically benefit from any benefits that would be received by Greece and Italy, the other two countries where the pipeline would pass.
A few years after the construction of the pipeline was completed, the Greek government of Tzipras renegotiated the agreement with TAP and as a result managed to take over the management of the operations of the pipeline in its territory, through the public company DEPA.
The same benefit automatically belonged to Albania. Because Albania did not have a company with expertise that could manage the operations of the gas pipeline, the Albanian government turned to the Italian company SNAM for help. As a result, at the end of 2018, the Albanian Gas Service company was founded, as a partnership between the Albanian state and SNAM.
Albania owns 75 percent of the shares in Albanian Gas Service, through the company Albgaz. The remaining 25 percent is owned by the Italian partner SNAM.
The Albanian Gas Service Company collects about 3.5 million euros in revenue per year from the services it provides for the management of TAP. From this money, she earns an average of 1 million euros per year.
All this profit is distributed as dividend to the partners according to the proportion of shares. Official data from the balance sheet show that in the period 2020-2025, Albgaz received about 4.5 million euros in dividends from the profits of Albanian Gas Service. But the money evaporates in the salaries of militants.
Albgaz parasite
Albgaz company was founded in January 2017 as a company with 100 percent state capital, whose shares are owned by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy.
The object of this company is to operate as a combined operator, which will carry out both transmission and distribution of gas in the Albanian territory. But since there is no gas in Albania, Albgazi simply eats the money that Albania receives from the TAP gas pipeline for the salaries of militants who are idle.
Like most state-owned companies, Albgaz is a dark bunker with no transparency. The last balance that the company has filed with the National Business Center belongs to the year 2022. But a budget monitoring report reveals what happens financially in this company.
According to data from the Ministry of Finance, in 2025, Albgaz had 61.3 million ALL of income and 151 million ALL of expenses. As a result, the company had a loss of 89.6 million ALL or about 980 thousand euros.
For 2024, the loss was even greater, exactly 103 million ALL or over 1.1 million euros at the current exchange rate. The vast majority of this money goes to salaries because Albgaz has practically no activity.
Renaissance Han
But who are the beneficiaries of this money? Albgaz is currently managed by Amarda Kapaj. The members of the management board of this company are Besjan Kadiu, Edona Bilali, Sindi Dushku, Rezarta Kokonozi, etc. Previously, there were Erlis Hereni, Laureta Omeri, Arbër Avrami and many others. All of these have one thing in common. They are devout revivalists, close to the Ministry of Infrastructure.
In addition to the fees for the managers and the board, Albgaz also employs a considerable number of employees, which is suspected to be over 100. They, like their managers, have the same political affiliation.
But Albgaz is a phenomenon. The same scheme works in Albpetrol. So, Albanian citizens should receive benefits from TAP, but the money goes to the salaries of militants. They should receive benefits from their oil in Patos Marinzë, but Albpetrol eats the money in tenders and salaries of militants.
At this point, citizens can only applaud the government’s major reforms.
