Today, where once stood the majestic Oil Refinery in Ballsh, the giant of Albanian industry for over four decades, it has turned into a large photovoltaic park. By a decision of the Council of Ministers and a permit from the National Territorial Council, traces of an industry that once employed over 2,000 residents and processed more than 1 million liters of oil annually were erased.
The refinery, known as the “Deep Oil Processing Plant,” covered an area of 90 hectares. It was built in 1972 by prisoners of Unit 309 and started operating in 1979. But its history after the ’90s is the story of a series of failed privatizations, staggering debts, and gradual destruction.
After changing hands multiple times, including companies such as “ARMO,” “Deveron Oil,” “Tosk Energy,” and “Allumn Enterprises,” the refinery permanently closed in 2019, leaving behind millions of euros in debt and 997 workers with unpaid wages. Justice, although in 2017 it ruled in favor of the workers for 13 unpaid salaries, was never enforced.
The company “Shijaku” bought the refinery for 9 million euros from Credins Bank, which had seized the assets due to debts. Afterwards, the plant was dismantled and the area was transformed into “Greennat Solar Park Ballsh,” a solar power plant. The construction of this park was approved without competition and without respecting the full legal procedures regarding the still-seized assets of “ARMO.”
The end of an era in Ballsh
Once the industrial giant of the south, the “Deep Oil Processing Plant” in Ballsh was the economic and social pillar of the entire surrounding area. For more than four decades, this refinery spanned an area of 90 hectares, with a processing capacity of over 1 million liters per year. Today, in its place, large fields of photovoltaic panels rise, following a decision by the Council of Ministers and a permit granted by the National Territorial Council.
The refinery, privatized over the years and passed hand to hand, was finally bought by the company “Shijaku” for 9 million euros. With this transaction, the industrial complex was dismantled for scrap, and on its land began the construction of the photovoltaic park “Greennat Solar Park Ballsh.” But this rapid transformation left deep social and economic wounds behind.
More than 2,000 workers were left unemployed, while 997 of them still wait to receive 13 unpaid salaries dating back to the refinery’s bankruptcy in 2019. Mr. Haki Paja, one of the former employees with over 25 years of experience as a technician in the maintenance department, recalls with pain the time when “86 people kept the entire plant running.”
The refinery began construction in 1972 by political prisoners of Unit 309. Besides the refinery, they also built residential buildings and even cemeteries. It took seven years for the plant to become operational, later becoming the heart of the area’s economy.
However, after the ’90s, with the start of the transition, the plant changed owners multiple times: from Rezart Taçi in 2008, to Heaney Assets Corporation in 2013, then “Deveron Oil,” “Petrol and Drilling,” “Allumn Enterprises,” and later rented to “Tosk Energy” and “Bylis Energy.”
These continuous changes brought deep instability, debts reaching 700 million euros, and finally, permanent closure in 2019.
Delayed justice, multiplied damage
A 2017 court decision ruled in favor of the workers for unpaid wages, but it has not been enforced even today. “I have over 1.2 million lek to collect,” says Mr. Paja. Many of the oil workers who waited for justice have died without ever seeing that money.
“Some of these oil workers who worked there have died and never benefited from those wages, even in old age,” adds Mr. Haki.
The workers’ case, which was referred to the court, started as an individual process and later became groups of 200 employees each. Three groups won, while the last is still being delayed, preventing enforcement of the final decision.
“Private companies came as strategic investors and left, leaving huge debts on our shoulders,” says Mr. Sokol Dautaj, head of the Oil Workers’ Union in Ballsh.
Protests, hunger strikes, confrontation with the state, and institutional indifference have been constant companions to this saga. In 2020, female workers spent 26 days on hunger strike, while the ministry itself only provided a temporary financial aid of 40,000 lek per month for one year, and later 30,000 lek for two more years, short-term solutions that did not end the wound.
“I remember the women who stayed at the plant day and night for almost a month, hoping for some response,” says the elderly man.
Political promises have been as many as they were unfulfilled. Former workers recall visits by Prime Minister Edi Rama to the refinery, from 2013 onward, with jokes and statements that never materialized into concrete solutions.
“He came and tried the oil we produced, and with his sarcasm, when we cornered him about the unpaid wages, he told the former union leader with a joke: Give the money to the workers because you won’t take it to the grave,” recounts a former oil worker.
Four years later, when nothing had changed, the prime minister made a statement: “The foreign investors we brought to the refinery saw the investment as worthless once again in this area,” declared the prime minister.
There was a response from the ministry in 2020, where by a Council of Ministers decision, a financial aid of 40,000 lek was set for workers for a one-year period. This decision was not enough for any oil worker and again left unenforced the final ruling for unpaid millions.
“In the first year, in 2020, I received 40,000 lek salary, the next year 30,000, and in the last year 20,000 lek,” explains Mr. Paja. At a time when different decisions were played on how to appease about 1,000 workers left to fate, the sweat of a whole year, which translated into a year’s contribution to each home, was once again forgotten.
October 2021 brought the end of the ministry’s decision and the oil workers were left again on the street. Gathered in the square in front of the plant and represented by their union leader, the workers demanded another longer-term solution.
The next solution, again as a reaction from the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, enabled the oil workers to receive a salary of 30,000 lek per month for the next two years.
Meanwhile, in 2023, a Council of Ministers decision and a permit from the National Territorial Council opened the way for the construction of the photovoltaic park, finally sending an industrial symbol of an entire era to scrap. From this agreement, the state will receive 2% of the annual energy production as a “royalty.”
Destruction without transparency
Six years after the refinery’s bankruptcy the only change is that it was sent for scrap. A Council of Ministers decision approved in 2023, and a permit from the National Territorial Council in 2024, dismantled the entire plant to replace it with a “Photovoltaic Park.” The decision foresees the construction of an electricity generating plant by the company “Greennat Solar Park Ballsh,” which is owned by the company “Shijaku,” owned by businessman Shpëtim Shijaku. Shijaku bought the refinery for 9 million euros from Credins Bank, which had seized 54 ARMO assets years earlier to settle debts owed by the latter. From this decision, the state is also favored. Although the state gave up its 15% shares in “ARMO,” after this decision it will receive 2% of the annual production quantity as a “royalty” or convert this into a monetary value.
Of the entire plant, only 20 hectares remain untouched. “Everything else has been dismantled. They have left only a three-story building, which once served as administration, and two warehouses which they are using for their purposes,” says Mr. Haki.
According to the union, the dismantling of the refinery was carried out without competition and without a second court notice, despite the fact that ARMO’s assets have been under conservative seizure since 2019. This has raised serious questions about the legality of the intervention and the division of profits.
“We protested when we saw the refinery being destroyed where we had spent our entire lives. We tried to stop the works but the large police forces defeated us,” says the former oil worker.
The company Shijaku intervened in the area where once stood the refinery called “Deep Oil Processing Plant” in Ballsh, without a permit from the Territorial Development Agency.
Although the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy denies having a role in the plant’s demolition, the Council of Ministers, in support of Article 100 of the Constitution, declares approval of the construction of the plant in cadastral zone no.1090 in Ballsh.
According to documents, ARMO’s assets had a conservative seizure order from 2019 and the court’s decision was taken on the assets of the former refinery. In any case, any work to be done in this seized area would require a second notification from the court. “Intervention in the plant’s territory was done while its assets were still under order. To remove the tape of a seized place, at minimum, a court decision must be made,” says Sokoli.
The effects were not felt only by the workers. According to the deputy mayor of Mallakastër, Zamir Malasi, the refinery’s closure removed about 900,000 dollars a year from the local economy, a heavy blow to income and employment in the area.
“The main source of finance has dried up with a contribution of about 900,000 dollars per year,” says Malasi.
Today, from the former plant only a three-story administration building and two warehouses remain. Everything else has been erased from history, making way for a solar park that seems to symbolize forgetfulness.
Praktikante-gazetare në “Rrjetin e Raportimit të Krimit të Organizuar dhe Korrupsionit në Shqipëri”- RRKOKSH.
Studente në fakultetin e historisë dhe filologjisë, Universiteti i Tiranës.