On the afternoon of June 24, 2023, the former mayor of Kukës, Safet Gjici, was arrested at the request of SPAK for passive corruption of local elected officials, after the publication of the video of him having intimate relations in the office with the famous Alma K. Despite the ‘climbing’ in the public due to the video, the accusation was strained and the perception was that Safet Gjici went to prison for an ‘oral’, in the conditions where the former mayor could have been investigated for suspicious tenders and wealth. In May of last year, when he had 8 months of his sentence left, Gjici was released from prison due to his serious health condition.
After being released from prison, Gjici has returned to questionable public tenders through two companies, which he passed, formally believed, in the name of his brother, Lavdrim Gjici. In 2001, Safet Gjici founded the security company Euro-Gjici, with the name changed to Eurogjici-Security. Five years later, in 2006, Safet Gjici founded the construction company Kevin Construction shpk.
Before getting involved in politics and after being appointed prefect of Kukes in 2014, Safet Gjici donates the shares of both companies to his brother Lavdrim Gjici. During the last 10 years, the Eurogjici-Security company has jointly won public tenders worth about 70 million euros. The construction company of Gjici, Kevin Construction, for the same period, has jointly won tenders worth about 40 million euros.
The annual turnover of Kevin Construction reaches up to 14 million euros (2021), suffering a drop to 600 thousand euros in 2024, when Safet Gjici was in prison. The annual turnover of Eurogjici-Security peaks at 3 million euros in 2021, suffering a drop to 1 million euros after the arrest of Gjicci and a modest profit in 2025, 12 thousand euros.
These evidences show that the main activity of the two companies is based on public money and that their success in public tenders is determined by the positions of Safet Gjic in relation to the government. After a three-year absence, a period that coincides with Gjic’s imprisonment, his two companies have returned to the table of public tenders.
On July 30, 2026, the director of the Albanian Post, Etjen Xhafaj, has authorized the director of the Administration Department, Elion Semanaj, to sign a tender without competition, worth 250 thousand euros, for Safet Gjici’s company, Eurogjici-Security, in cooperation with the companies Nazeri 2000 and Special Albania Security.
The object of the tender is to receive alarm signals from the post and regime branches in case of an attempt to rob the money. The difference between the limit fund and the winning bid is only 22 thousand ALL. The lack of competition and the negligible difference between the limit fund and the winning bid do not necessarily make the tender corrupt, but raise strong suspicions of pre-determination of winners by bargaining at the table.
The official data shows that Safet Gjici with the same cooperation companies, has almost monopolized the tenders for physical security, escorting money and receiving the alarm signals of the Albanian Post, the regional directorates of DSO and especially UKT.
Safet Gjici formally transferred the businesses to his brother’s name in 2014, but his related persons, in terms of the legal obligation to declare assets, have continued to declare income as employees in his two companies, Eurogjici-Security and Kevin Construction. Also, Sefet Gjici has declared the purchase of real estate when as declared income he only had the salary as mayor and income from rents.
Safet Gjici declares an asset worth millions of euros; villas, apartments, premises at Ura e Tavakëve, land, olive groves, land, bank deposits, bonds 700 thousand euros, etc. The main source of declared wealth is income from commercial activity. However, Safet Gjici has also declared some immovable assets with the alleged source of money donated by relatives, salary as an employee at the Ministry of the Interior, at the Guard of the Republic and from employment as a bodyguard.
However, only a possible investigation by SPAK could confirm or not whether or not Safet Gjici has used his positions as former mayor and connections with power, taking advantage of predetermined public tenders and in some cases with agreements with various economic operators, then diverting part of the money into his pockets, money that could have been invested in real estate.
