Business community opposition to the Tirana reference price rise stems from the construction association’s claim that higher prices will be borne by citizens.
Aurora Sulçe invited Ilir Hebovija, Executive Director of the Association of Builders, to ‘A2 Business’ to talk about this matter. He gave his reasons for opposing the judgment and the projected financial effects on the public.
Why are you against raising the capital’s reference prices?
“We object to the lack of openness in the process used to determine whether to raise reference pricing. It is necessary to state that the first consultation meeting was held. We faced a Council of Ministers decision in July of this year, at which point everything was resolved. That meeting was therefore just a sham of a meeting.
The real estate industry and the Ministry of Finance alone are unable to identify their calculation, which uses a broad methodology. Construction costs have gone up dramatically, with some places seeing price increases of over 35% and others seeing price doubling.
To what extent are citizens expecting to see price increases?
Based on our first calculations, this effect will directly result in a 150–300 euro rise per square meter. The various taxes that result from the modification of the Tirana reference price must then be calculated.
Why is the reference being changed in this way?
In Tirana, there is a steady demand for construction projects. According to Hebovija for A2 CNN, “It is very convenient for developers who do not leave, build there, and stay because the capital has not yet been saturated with constructions and the Municipality of Tirana has a ‘river’ of new permit requests.”
“Ilir Hebovija, Association of Builders Executive Director”