A draft decision of the Council of Ministers obtained by BIRN foresees the transfer of Sazan Island from the administration of the Ministry of Defence to the Ministry of Economy and Innovation as part of the procedures for the development of the strategic project “Tourist Resort – Sazan Island”.
In a recent interview on entrepreneur David Senra’s podcast, Ivanka Trump described the project she is developing together with her husband, Jared Kushner, as a large-scale investment in the Mediterranean.
“I’m working on an extraordinary project with my husband in the Mediterranean. It’s a massive project. It involves a private island of 14,000 hectares in the heart of the Mediterranean,” Trump said.
Contrary to her description, however, Sazan is state-owned property and is administered by Albania’s Ministry of Defence.
The document obtained by BIRN shows that the government is taking steps to transfer the island to the Real Estate Fund for the Support of Strategic Investments, placing it under the administration of the Ministry of Economy.
The draft decision, proposed by Economy Minister Delina Ibrahimaj, foresees the transfer of state-owned properties in cadastral zone 3269 of the Municipality of Vlora for the “development and implementation of the strategic investment project ‘Tourist Resort – Sazan Island’”.
The area planned to be made available for the project includes approximately 5.2 million square metres of land and existing buildings on the island, representing more than 90 per cent of Sazan’s total surface area.
Asked by BIRN about the draft decision and the procedures for transferring the island, the Albanian government said the document had been “circulated for consultation and has not been implemented”.
“It is intended to consolidate the entire area as a development zone, given that it was previously a military zone, and to transfer it to the administration of the Ministry of Economy,” the press office of Prime Minister Edi Rama said.
“There is no privatisation involved in this draft decision, and the document serves to facilitate the negotiation phase in order to safeguard the interests of the state as a partner in the investment,” it added.
At the end of 2024, the Albanian government granted “Strategic Investor” status to Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC, a company linked to Kushner. According to a decision by the Strategic Investments Committee, the planned investment is valued at 1.4 billion euros and envisages the development of a tourism complex on part of the island.
Deadlines for the implementation of the project were extended at the end of 2024, while additional benefits were granted to the investor. These include legal amendments allowing special procedures for strategic investors, as well as an obligation for the Ministry of Defence to clear unexploded ordnance from both the island and the surrounding waters.
Earlier, President Bajram Begaj signed a decree removing a military training area from the Armed Forces Deployment Plan, a step considered necessary for the implementation of the project.
According to the draft decision, the transfer includes property no. 206/7, consisting of 5,255,215 square metres of land and buildings covering 31,005 square metres; property no. 208, consisting of 254,178 square metres of land and buildings covering 5,344 square metres; and property no. 207, consisting of 9,386 square metres of land and buildings covering 412 square metres.
Sazan Island forms part of the Sazan-Karaburun National Park, Albania’s only combined marine and terrestrial national park. The area is considered a habitat for dozens of species of international importance, including several endangered marine species.
The draft decision to transfer Sazan Island to Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC comes at a time when Albania has been swept by a wave of protests against another tourism project linked to the Trump family in the protected Narta Lagoon area.
Thousands of Albanian citizens have protested over the past week in Tirana and other cities against plans to build a resort in the area by Qatari investors linked to Jared Kushner and the Kastrati Group.
The daily demonstrations in Tirana, attended largely by young people carrying satirical placards, have been dubbed the “Flamingo Revolution” by local media, after the flamingo population of Narta Lagoon became a symbol of the protests.
Protesters have demanded the cancellation of the Zvërnec resort project as well as the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, whom they accuse of unlawfully favouring private investors.
Prime Minister Edi Rama has struck a defiant tone toward the protesters, pledging that the government will not back down from the project. He has also accused external actors of fuelling the demonstrations, describing them as part of a “hybrid war”.
