The government of Albania has not fulfilled its promise to Montenegro: They are still silent about the power plants in Cijevna

The Government of Albania has not fulfilled its promise to provide answers to Montenegro in 15 days about the status and plans for further construction of small hydropower plants (MHP) on Cijevna, the Water Management Directorate told "News".

So far, Montenegro has only received from Albania a map of planned and MHPs whose construction is underway, said Director of the Directorate Momčilo Blagojević.

After the meeting of the interstate commissions for water management on September 19, the Government of Albania pledged to inform their Montenegrin colleagues about Cijevna in two weeks. The Montenegrin commission announced at the time that the authorities in Albania did not respond in a timely, adequate, or reasoned manner to Montenegro's requests for a statement on the possible cross-border impact of the MHP construction project in Cijevna, on Albanian territory. Preliminary environmental impact assessments were submitted to Montenegro late, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said at the time, adding that the documentation was "incomplete and has no value in a technical sense."

From the department of Milutin Simović, they also said that these are studies that were made in 2016 and 2017, and that there is no technical data in them that would indicate the cross-border impact of MHP on the overall water regime.

"The studies do not contain data on hydrological, hydrogeological and geological characteristics, as well as geodetic data on MHP locations, the type of these facilities, as well as the current state and planned projection of MHP on this river," said the Ministry of Agriculture after the meeting on September 19.

At that time, they announced that Albania and Montenegro do not have an agreed position on the issue of Cijevna, and that the Albanian side believes that there is no influence and that international standards have not been violated.

Montenegro then requested the introduction of a moratorium on further works, until it is proven whether they can affect the water flow of the river. Due to the disagreement, Simović, as Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism Pavle Radulović sent a joint letter to the European Commission and the Secretariat of the Helsinki Convention.

Only a map of the power plants under construction has been published

At the request of the Montenegrin commission, the Albanian side undertook to provide information on the current situation and the plan for further construction of the MHP within 15 days, but they did not do so.

"The competent institutions of the Republic of Albania have not yet submitted the documentation that was requested and agreed upon at the meeting of the Interstate Commission for Water Management Relations... As of today, only a map was submitted showing small hydropower plants whose construction is in progress and planned," he said. News" Blagojević.

The Directorate for Water Management assures the public that "they will keep the issue current, until its positive solution", and they hope that it will be soon.

Blagojević reminded that this is required by the water contracts that Montenegro has with Albania, as well as the principles of the Helsinki Water Convention and the EU Water Framework Directive.

"The Government of Montenegro continues to expect a response from the Albanian side, in the belief that it will show an appropriate level of concern for all aspects of the possible impact of the construction of the MHP on the Cijevna river in our territory," he said.

"Vijesti" wrote about the Cijevna HPP on the territory of Albania for the first time on October 5 last year, after the Center for the Protection and Study of Birds provided the editorial office with photos taken in the field. At that time, on the Albanian part of Cijevna, works were well under way, and in the photographs, but later also on the ground, it could be seen that a stream had been made from the river at the construction site.

In the Albanian part of Cijevna, as "Vijesti" wrote at the time, the construction of several MHPs is planned. According to unofficial data, there are 14 such projects. The posts of Albanian environmental activists on social networks show that the works have not been stopped to this day.

"The beautiful Cijevna, which flowed here for thousands of years, was stopped by the barbaric hand of the people it fed, gave them name and fame. This is how tourism and any other opportunity for the development of this area dies. And all this just to strengthen the oligarchs, who are stealing from our wealth," Albanian environmental expert Abdullah Diku wrote recently.

The Government of Montenegro announced a year ago that their colleagues from the neighboring country had never consulted them about the plans for the construction of the MHP at Cijevna and that they had not received information about it even during the joint session of the governments, at the beginning of June last year in Shkodra. Only after "Vijesti" was written, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent the first questions to Albania about projects on the joint river. The pipeline partly flows through Albania, and the larger part through Montenegro. According to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (ESPO), the governments of the two countries are obliged to involve each other in the process of obtaining permits. The Assembly of the Capital City declared the Cijevna canyon a protected natural asset of local importance two years ago.